Germany is Sending LGBT Refugees to the Gallos by Deportation

(Xinhua) -- LGBT refugees are being deported by German authorities despite facing serious threats to their lives in their country of origin, Politico reported on Monday.

While there are no official statistics for the number of LGBT asylum seekers who have been ordered to leave Germany, Politico cited human rights groups which claim that up to 50 percent of their clients' applications have been rejected.

A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees (BaMF) responded by saying that each case was reviewed individual and considered "if the asylum seeker can credibly show that they would be in danger because of their sexual orientation in their country of origin."

Germany only considers a small number of countries of origin, limited mainly to EU member states, the Western Balkans, Ghana and Senegal, as safe, but has also declined applications from migrants from other countries, according to lawyers and human rights groups.

Politico cited the case of a transgender person living in Germany since 2015 who now faces being deported to Lebanon despite having already been physically assaulted there because of her sexual orientation before emigrating. Only 12 percent of refugees from Lebanon were granted asylum in Germany in 2017, BaMF statistics show.

Asylum seekers from countries such as Morocco, Pakistan, Russia and Tunisia who are gay or trans, frequently complain that the German government's classification is inaccurate and that they would experience institutional or violent persecution in their home countries.

In Tunisia, for example, same-sex relations are punishable with a prison sentence of up to three years.