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Evidence suggests that Europe’s Dublin Regulation is increasing the precarity of lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) asylum applicants. Dublin allocates responsibility for examining asylum claims between EU Member States. The EuropeanCourt of Human Rights (ECtHR) guides the obligations of States under Dublin.Increasingly, the ECtHR draws on the concept of vulnerability to frame the experiencesof asylum seekers. Vulnerability purportedly functions for the ECtHR as a lens throughwhich the harm experienced by asylum applicants is magnified, enabling it to betterrecognize human rights violations. Nevertheless, the ECtHR’s vulnerability lens may bedistorted by hetero- and cisgender normativity. We explore some implications of the ECtHR’s assumptions for how the vulnerabilities of LGBTQ asylum seekers in Europeunder Dublin register with the ECtHR. We suggest that the combined frameworks ofintersectional invisibility and layers of vulnerability can improve the ECtHR’s capacity tounderstand how LGBTQ asylum applicants may be particularly vulnerable under Dublin.

Ratgeber: Was ist im Asylverfahren für LSBTI-Geflüchtete zu beachten?

A host of studies have explored the resettlement experiences of refugees who have fled persecution, but the study of those who have done so on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is just beginning. The purpose of this study was to understand the factors contributing to resilience in sexual andgender minority forced migrants resettled in the United States and Canada. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interviews with 26 individuals who obtained refugee/asylee status on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Participants originated from countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Participants reported experiencing depression, anxiety, traumatic stress as well as resettlement challenges (e.g., securing employment and housing, navigating the asylum process). Despite these struggles, analysis revealed a number of factors ofcontributing to their resilience: staying hopeful and positive; utilizing community and legal services; receiving support from significant others and friends; doing whatever it takes; and giving back. For African and Caribbean participants, in particular, “spiritual upkeep”also helped to bolster their resilience. Findings indicated that these factors helped participants to manage the effects of severe trauma and adapt to the host country. Implications for counseling with this population are discussed.

We present a qualitative study exploring the subjective meanings that five female Nigerian asylum seekers hosted in Italy attributed to their pre-migratory, migratory and post-migratory experiences, with an examination in-depth of the gender identity dimensions. We developed and administered semi-structured interviews, analyzed according to the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. On the background of the identity breakdown produced by forced migration, we highlight an inadequate integration process of the gender roles of woman and mother, generating a fracture that makes women’s experiences particularly fragile. Reflections on the implication of the study and of the development of intervention programs will be outlined.

Lesbian, bisexual, queer, trans and intersex (LBTQI) women who are migrants, asylum claimants and refugees are particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical violence in their country of origin, during their journey to the reception country, during the asylum decision-making process and after having obtained refugee or humanitarian status within the European Union. This includes rape and sexual violence in refugee camps, reception centres and whilst in transit, so-called “honor” crimes, exploitation in sex work by traffickers and harassment by immigration officials and society at large.

Lesbische, schwule, bisexuelle, trans- und intergeschlecht-liche (LSBTI*) Geflüchtete stehen im Asylverfahren vor einer Reihe besonderer Herausforderungen. So müssen sie einerseits ihre sexuelle Orientierung bzw. geschlechtliche Identität glaubhaft vortragen. Dies gelingt vielen aus Angst, Scham und/oder Unwissenheit nicht. Andererseits müssen sie darlegen, dass sie bei Rückkehr Verfolgung fürchten. Lebten sie im Herkunftsland diskret, wird oft diese Geheimhaltung der sexuellen Identität oder Orientierung als Entscheidungsgrundlage herangezogen, um bei der Beurteilung der Verfolgungswahrscheinlichkeit eine Gefahr zu verneinen.