Crisis for LGBTQ people from Uganda who are seeking asylum

Hamu Smith, and this group of LGBTQ people from Uganda who live in a refugee camp in a country in East Africa need your help . They have asked that their names are kept hidden because they are afraid others there will hurt them if they find out. I met these people and the organizer, Hamu Smith on X this October and I have been writing to and calling them on WhatsApp . They are applying for asylum because of the homophobic laws in Uganda, where it is a criminal offense to be openly gay to advocate for LGBTQ rights and to also live openly as a transgender and non binary person. This group of people formed a 10 person committee to raise money and to advocate for themselves. Hamu Smith asked me in October to start a Go Fund Me campaign about this. I send the money that people donate for this to Hamu Smith using the World Remit app. My name is Eliza Dudelzak and I live in Fort Lauderdale. Hamu Smith and the others and I are more than grateful for your generous and timely donations since October that you have made to help them.

Update: Hamu Smith’s smartphone was stolen in April. I have agreed to ship an iPhone 12 Pro Max that I have to Hamu Smith. I’m working with Hamu’s friend who lives in Uganda so he can get it in this refugee camp where he now lives. This iPhone smartphone will be his lifeline. I am helping him to do this in the next few weeks and we need to pay for shipping costs and also to unlock the iphone. Thank you

At the end of January Hamu Smith wrote to me about the critical situation facing LGBTQ people who lived in the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya and the recent loss of support from the Kenyan government and the 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 was 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 was dangerous and expensive. . People won’t hire them inside this refugee camp because they can’t work 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 other basic necessities. LGBTQ people who live in this refugee camp and in Kakum don’t have the same opportunities that other asylum seekers have 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 have been raped, poisoned, burned, beaten, murdered, threatened 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, experience theft, are imprisoned and prevented from getting what they need. Their young children can’t go to school. The World Food Program and the authorities they give a monthly stipend to every person who has a World Food Program card but not everyone get this. There is also a language barrier. All information is written in this refugee camp in this country in Arabic and people from Uganda don’t speak Arabic. It is not written in English. These funds will be spent on medical treatment and to pay for food and other basic necessities.