In France, a difficult asylum for LGBT migrants
Audio 02:30
Women circumcised and promised to a forced marriage, men living at night for fear of a beating ... All say it: if they had had the choice, they would not have left the country.
© Getty Images / Beli P.
By: Alice Rouja
7 mins
On this International Day against Homophobia, meet Esther, Rama, John and Felix.
They are between 20 and 38 years old and come from Burkina Faso, Senegal and Haiti.
Lesbians or gays, they fled their country of origin by force.
They would like to acquire refugee status to start a new life, but the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) refused them asylum.
Publicity
“
At home, in Haiti, when you are homosexual or homosexual, you are judged as if you were the devil. They tagged the wall of my house and told me that they were going to burn me, and I really know what people are capable of ...
”, explains a person I met at the LGBT center in Paris. Another recounts her career: “
I left my home at the age of 16, I went from Burkina Faso to Algeria, then to Libya, Italy and then here to France. And there, I am rejected.
"
After nine months of waiting, Esther saw her asylum application rejected.
For good reason: impersonal and imprecise statements.
A recurring response from the authorities according to Hervé Latapie.
A volunteer at the LGBT center in Paris, he accompanies asylum seekers during their interviews in front of Ofpra.
“
You really get the impression that protection officers are conditioned to reject.
When they question people, they are in suspicion, they are looking for the little beast.
In addition, these are still very delicate questions: on private life, sex life ... These are people who have already been traumatized ...
", explains Hervé Latapie.
► See also: LGBT + rights are progressing but 69 countries still penalize homosexual relations
Women circumcised and promised to a forced marriage, men living at night for fear of a beating ... All say it: if they had had the choice, they would not have left the country.
Questions that leave you perplexed
Félix has been attending the center for more than two years now, the questions of Ofpra officers, he knows them by heart. “
For all applicants, the first question is '
why are you applying for asylum?'
And when you answer this question, if you forget to specify that you are an LGBT person, for them it is a reason for refusal. Second, they will ask you when you realize your homosexuality, and they even have a question, which is completely crazy, “
what was in particular your partner? Why do you like it?
”You are asked why you love this person. What do you want to say to them?
Asks Felix.
Rama, she is ironic about the absurdity of the requests.
"
What does Ofpra want to make them actually believe us?"
Because there it is about the private life of the person.
Do they want videos?
They want us to take action in front of them?
"
"It's shocking and sad"
Despite the preparation of the interviews and the presentation of evidence such as photos for example.
All requests were denied.
Only John was granted refugee status through an appeal to the National Asylum Seekers Court.
► See also: Côte d'Ivoire: a festival to fight violence against LGBTQI + people
Living in Paris while waiting to receive papers, for them, it is not a life either.
“
I've been here for almost two years.
I'm not doing anything.
I do not have the right to go to school, not the right to training.
I have become a wanderer in Paris.
All the associations know me here,
”sighs Félix.
For Esther, it is disillusionment.
“
We are in France, we are supposed to be free, in peace, to live our life quietly.
We realize that stress is where we find it most.
Frankly, it's shocking and sad ...
"
Although stressed and tired, Rama, Esther, Felix and John do not give up hope.
Today they will participate in actions in Paris to defend their rights.
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France
Refugees
LGBT +