Crisis for LGBTQ people from Uganda seeking asylum

Hamu Smith, S., D., J., I., E., B., B., H., J., J., B., M., H., R., their four children who are ages four, six and seven years old and one infant (who are children of LGBTQ parents) are LGBTQ people from Uganda who live in Kakuma Kenya. They have asked that their names are kept hidden because they are afraid others in Kakuma will hurt them. I met these people on X this October and I have been writing to and calling them on WhatsApp . They have all applied for asylum to Kenya because of the homophobic laws in Uganda, where it is a criminal offense to be openly gay and also transgender. They formed a 10 person committee to raise money and to advocate for themselves. They asked me to start a Go Fund Me campaign about this. I send the money that people donate to Hamu Smith using the World Remit app. My name is Eliza Dudelzak and I live in Fort Lauderdale. At the end of January Hamu Smith wrote to me about the critical situation facing LGBTQ people who live in Kakuma and the recent loss of support from the Kenyan government and UNHCR for LGBTQ people who live in Kakuma people. Some have decided to go to the Gorom Refugee Settlement camp outside of Jabu, South Sudan. Hamu Smith wrote to me that the Kenyan government has stopped working on asylum cases for all LGBTQ asylum seekers who now live in the Kakuma Refugee camp. They will not grant them legal status as a refugee. Hamu fled Uganda and has been living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya since November 2021. Fatah is also a gay man from Uganda who I met over X sent me a screenshot of a document from UNHCR which states that: “since late 2023UNHCR has been informed that persons presenting such claims [on the basis of persecution and discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity] are being refused registration”. I understand this statement means that they cannot register as asylum seekers or apply for asylum. They found out that the UNHCR and other human rights organizations in South Sudan are more willing to help LGBTQ people to apply for asylum to U.S, Canada and to other countries. The journey to Gorom from Kakuma is dangerous and expensive. They must hire a “coyote” or a person who can help them travel to and who will make arrangements with the officers at the border and at the “roadblocks” that have been set up to prevent them from leaving Kenya so they can get to Gorom. LGBTQ asylum seekers are not officially allowed to leave the Kakuma camp and don’t have any documentation. They are considered stateless. They must pay $150 USD per person. Six of the LGBTQ community members who are men who live in Block 7, Zone 3 in Kakuma are people who live with HIV. These men have been denied their meds for HIV by the people who work at the IRC heath care facilities in Kakuma from September to December. All people who live with HIV need to take their medication for HIV every day to keep their viral load low and create viral suppression. U=U undetectable means untransmittable. If a person skips or doesn’t take their meds for HIV the HIV virus multiplies rapidly. This could weaken a person’s immune system and they could become sick.

There is a shortage of condoms- they are not given enough. 

 These young men were being discriminated against because they are men that have sex with men. Recently they told me that this changed and that they are now able to get their medication because a person who is now volunteering at the IRC healthcare facility in Kakuma is also an LGBTQ asylum seeker. In the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya LGBTQ people experience discrimination and violence every day. They don’t have enough food to eat because they experience work discrimination and harassment . People won’t hire them inside the Kakuma camp and they are not allowed to leave the camp. This means that they can’t earn money that is needed to pay for their food and for basic necessities. People in Kenya dont give them opportunities for any work or education because they discern that they are from Uganda because they speak Swahili with an accent and they know that most refugees from Uganda are LGBTQ . Six of the LGBTQ community members who are men who live in Block 7, Zone 3 in Kakuma are people who live with HIV. These men have been denied their medication for HIV by the staff at the IRC clinic in Kakuma from September to December. This is ARVs that they must take every day.They were being discriminated against because they are men that have sex with men. Recently they told me that this changed and that they are now able to get their medication because a person who is now volunteering at the IRC healthcare facility in Kakuma is also an LGBTQ asylum seeker. Refugees in Kakuma don’t receive money from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), the two agencies who help refugees in Kakuma. The LGBTQ people who live in Kakuma don’t have the same opportunities that other asylum seekers who live in Kakuma have because they are LGBTQ. They are denied equal rights. They experience discrimination and persecution every day because of their gender identity and sexual orientation. They are being raped, poisoned, burned, beaten, murdered, threatnted that they will be censored on social media and told not to speak up, receive false promise, are verbally assaulted by others in the camp, imprisoned and prevented from getting what they need. Their young children can’t go to school. The World Food Program gives a minimal monthly food ration to every person who lives in Kakuma and it is not enough for a person to eat every day. This food ends before the next monthly food distribution. When I spoke November 19 on WhatsApp with Hamu Smith and with other men and women who are part of the 10 person LGBTQ committee many of the people haven’t eaten that day. They didn’t have any food.

These funds will be spent on medical treatment and to pay for food and other basic necessities including paying for the smartphone that they have.