The grass is not always greener
Sweden and South Africa are popular destinations for LGBT refugees, but both countries are far from perfect
To the rapturous applause of hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the streets of Stockholm, they repeated their heady chant: “Who are we? Newcomers… Who are we? Newcomers!”
Made up of queer asylum seekers and refugees from various parts of the world, the group, marching as part of this year’s Stockholm Pride parade, represented the organisation RFSL Newcomers.
Established by RFSL, Sweden’s largest queer rights organisation, Newcomers is a network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers.
Seven years after having sought asylum in Sweden and making his home in Stockholm, Silva Eiseb Söderstrand is no longer a newcomer to the Scandinavian capital. Söderstrand, a transgender man, left his country of birth, Namibia, in 2010 because: “Back home in Namibia, you don’t have rights, especially as a trans man.”
Listing stigma and a lack of access to adequate healthcare (“even if you have the flu”) as some of the reasons he sought asylum in Sweden, Söderstrand says: “It was very difficult being out in that society. There was quite a lot of stigma. But when I came here, it was very different. I had rights. I had access to health. I could transition at no cost. So for me, it was a definite that I was going to stay here and that I belonged here.”
Magnus Kolsjö is vice-president of RFSL. “Asylum seekers we assist here come to Sweden after facing various forms of persecution in their home countries [for] things such as laws that make same-sex relations illegal, mob violence and violence from families, with little or no protection from police or government.”
Kolsjö says that, although Sweden is seen as “a country that is progressive, fairly liberal and accepting of LGBT rights”, it’s not perfect. “But this is not heaven for LGBT people. We still have a lot of work to do here.”
In much the same way the perception exists that Sweden is a European heaven for LGBT people, South Africa too has become known as Africa’s oasis for queer African asylum seekers.
Deyoncé Naris, the interim national co-ordinator of Transgender, Intersex and Androgynous Movement of Namibia, says: “South Africa is generally seen as the land of milk and honey for all queer persons. Everybody would have loved to seek asylum in South Africa if it was possible.”
Naris adds that, although South Africa has “beautiful laws”, they are not effectively enacted. “That is what makes Africans in general sceptical of migrating to South Africa. It would have been ideal if you guys had some asylum policies for queer people.
“But it seems as though South Africa is not even enacting the laws aimed at protecting its own queer people. And if you are not able to protect your own queer people and match your policies with action, then how would it be able to protect other queer people coming from the outside?”
Tiwonge Chimbalanga made world headlines when, in 2009, she was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by the Malawian government for marrying her then-partner, Steven Monjeza. Chimbalanga, a transgender woman, arrived in South Africa in 2010, having served only 10 months, largely as a result of an intervention by the then United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
“I am very happy to be in South Africa, but it is very hard. People call me names and I have been attacked many, many times. But I can’t go to the police. There is no point,” she says.
The victim of numerous physical and verbal attacks, most of which the Malawian reported at Cape Town’s Manenberg police station — less than 10 minutes walk away from her shack in the neighbouring township of Thambo Village — Chimbalanga, says: “What use are the police? How many gays report things to the police? A lot, a lot, a lot. And what happens? Nothing. No, my friend, the police don’t help us.”
Sylva Batshi, the LGBT projects co-ordinator at People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, says: “This is definitely one of the challenges LGBT refugees and asylum seekers in this country face: being victims of homophobic attacks and then not feeling able to report it to the police.
“According to reports from the LGBT community we receive, when they have been to the police, they are not assisted as they should be. On a daily basis, people would report these attacks to us: that they went to the police and that nothing was done about it. In fact, most times they are discriminated against. We have reports of police officials asking things like, ‘Why are you a moffie?’ or ‘Why did you leave your country?’ ”
Mandi Mudarikwa, an attorney with Legal Resources Centre, adds that, in addition to this discrimination, the adjudication process asylum seekers have to undergo is, “from a legal perspective, one of the biggest issues they face”.
“There are many who come to South Africa after having heard about same-sex marriage being legal here or our wonderful Constitution. But there are also those who are not aware that they can apply for asylum here based on sexual orientation.”
The interview process is also one that Mudarikwa raises concerns over. “Here in Cape Town, interviews are often conducted in spaces that afford asylum seekers no real privacy. This means that they end up admitting that they are gay in front of others, which can be difficult given that being gay is an identity that they have always had to keep secret.”
Says Batshi: “It is a really tough situation for many. It’s a big, big challenge. It’s as though there is nowhere for them to feel safe; to feel really, really safe.”
Now based in Stockholm, Miles Rutendo, a transgender rights activist, left his country of birth, Zimbabwe, in the hopes of finding somewhere to feel safe.
“I didn’t go to South Africa because there is a lot of xenophobia there,” says Rutendo, referring to the spate of attacks that swept through the country in 2008 and as recently as last year.
Rutendo concedes that, for many queer African asylum seekers, life in Sweden has come with a fresh set of challenges.
“Coming to Sweden as a queer asylum seeker, there are multiple levels of discrimination that you face, which is a huge challenge. Because maybe in Africa your main challenge was being trans. But here you are black, trans, unemployed and an asylum seeker. With all these intersectionalities coming into play, people can get really messed up. Also, there are issues with racism in society in general here.”
The recent finding that right-wing parties are enjoying increased popularity across the country is something that will doubtless exacerbate the issue of racism.
A September 2016 article pub-