Berlin’s LGBT Group Gets Help for Abused Gay Refugees

                                                                          

We all know that through all those thousands of Syrians asylum seekers there most be a good percentage of LGBT. As a matter of fact when gays have to disclose who they are they also need to disclose their sexual orientation so they could would be considered for qualification under the asylum program. 

The LGBT in Germany has taken steps to help those refugees. I don’t have to tell you what happens when all those so called religious people in line to be interviewed and they hear someone is gay the news spreads among homophobes like wild fire. 

For those that look weaker or smaller there is rape and possible pushed to to be pimped and for the others there is vocal abuse and gang beatings. The gay community in Germany is a strong smart bunch of people that not only complaint but they also get their hands dirty in demonstrations and pushing the government to be fair in the way they are treated. These community remembers the days in which they were tagged with a pink triangle and hung or sent to the gas camps to be gassed and burnt. They take no prisoners when they see their rights violated.

The Jerusalem Post reported what steps this community is taken to help some of these refugee seekers.

They have gotten the ok to open a center that accommodates 125 in Berlin.

 

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There are an estimated 3,500 LGBT asylum seekers in Berlin, many experiencing abuse in shelters where they are staying with other people seeking asylum, according to Schwulenberatung, a Berlin-based gay rights organization which will run the center.

"We have heard a lot of stories about discrimination and crimes against LGBT people in the last two years," Stephan Jakel, Schwulenberatung manager in charge of refugee affairs, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Friday.

"They were frightened and scared after being beaten or spat on, and one survived a murder attempt. We heard a lot of horrible stories," he said by phone from Berlin.

Germany has borne the brunt of Europe's biggest refugee influx since World War Two with over one million people arriving in the country in 2015, most of them fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Between August and December 2015, there were 95 cases of violence against LGBT people, mainly in accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers, according to the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD).

They involved physical violence, sexual assaults, insults, threats and coercion.

Jakel said there was a shortage of cheap or free apartments in Berlin and many asylum seekers were forced to remain in centers for a long time, often facing abuse.

"Refugees have been coming to our center over the last few years asking for help," Jakel said.

LGBT asylum seekers will be offered accommodation in the new center during their asylum-seeking process and will be allowed to stay for as long as they need, he said.