HAVEN OR HASSLE?
LGBT refugees say Canada’s asylum process is focusing on the wrong things,
Val Kalende doesn’t understand why Canada’s refugee system is more interested in her sex life than the persecution she experienced as a lesbian in her native Uganda.
“They wanted the names of my girlfriends and all of my previous relationships and their support letters to prove that,” said Kalende, a Ugandan gay activist who made an asylum claim in Canada in July for persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation.
“It made me feel horrible. They just focused on these private, intimate things about my partners, sex life and breakups, instead of the way I was persecuted back home. There’s something about the (asylum) process that breaks you down, that breaks your emotions down.”
The Toronto woman’s experience is echoed by the participants of a groundbreaking study to be released Tuesday by the Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights research team based out of York University.
“Is Canada a safe haven for LGBT refugees?” asked the 59-page report by the same title. “We can answer a qualified yes — however, the study identifies serious obstacles.”
One of those obstacles, it said, is the Canadian asylum system’s disproportionate emphasis on “credibility” in the claims process, which places the onus on LGBT claimants to produce highly personal evidence to substantiate their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“By requiring claimants to label and prove an often hidden and stigmatized identity, Canada’s claims process requires applicants to disclose deeply intimate and at times trau- matic experiences,” said the report.
“For LGBT refugees, whose survival has typically required being cautious about whom they reveal themselves to, the disclosure of this information can be very difficult or impossible.”
Over two years, researchers conducted 21 focus groups with 92 refugees from 26 countries, from Africa to the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East, as well as providers of immigrant and refugee services in Greater Toronto.
In many countries, homosexuality is outlawed and in some nations even punishable by death. Canada is one of 42 countries that grant asylum to people who are persecuted as sexual minorities, but changes Ottawa introduced in 2012 to streamline the refugee system have had a “particular and disproportionately negative impact” on LGBT claimants, the report said.
The reforms impose strict timelines for people to make a claim and gather the required documentation and supporting evidence. Those who come from Ottawa’s list of so-called safe countries also have restricted access to appeals, preremoval risk assessment and humanitarian consideration.
“You have so little time to fill out forms and put your story together, while looking for housing and shelter. You don’t understand the new country, the culture here, and have no idea how to prove you are gay,” said Karlene Williams Clarke, LGBT newcomer community service coordinator at the 519, a city agency serving Toronto’s gay community.
“They are often ostracized by their own community and have no family support, and their friends don’t want to be part of their lives. It’s tough. The claimants already suffered a lot of trauma back home. When they get here, they are further traumatized by things they didn’t anticipate.”
Kalende, a founding member of the Ugandan LGBT movement, was arrested and detained while trying to attend an HIV/AIDS conference in Kampala. She was later invited to speak at the United Nations headquarters in New York about LGBT issues in Africa.
Kalende said she was lucky because, as a high-profile advocate in Uganda, she did not encounter too much trouble in collecting documentation to substantiate her case.
LGBT refugees are often ostracized by their own family and community, making it even harder to find allies to support their claims in Canada.
“It was challenging for me to get my 13 support letters from Uganda because of the timeline of the process. People had to write the letter, notarize it and send them back to me by express mail,” said Kalende, who has a graduate degree in sociology from the Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts. She was granted asylum in Canada at her hearing Sept. 8.
Focus group participants in the study spoke extensively about the lasting impact the process has had on their mental health, experiences of oppression and sense of security. “You feel like you are being persecuted, proving yourself,” said one refugee claimant in an interview.
The report made 37 recommendations to improve conditions for LGBT refugees, including a special claim process, housing and mental health support.