Help us to stay safe as a Lesbian Iraqi couple

‼️ Urgent Update ‼️ Saja is in Deportation Jail right now. We need money to finance a lawyer!

Hello,

my name is Saja, I'm writing for both me and my girlfriend Hala, we are in urgent need of your solidarity.

We are living in Istanbul as queer refugees from Iraq without official status as Turkish authorities don't grant us any protection status. I left Iraq 6 years ago under death threats from my family as a queer person. Since then, I was living from different jobs that I can access here in Turkey without a work permit, including sex work.

My girlfriend Hala just fled Iraq 2 months ago under threat of her family and her husband who didn’t let her have a divorce despite his years of emotional and physical abuse. He is still threatening to kill her and looking for her here in Istanbul.

Paper from the court which is something legal men can do over their wives in Iraq, it says that Hala has to be back in her husband‘s house by force or she is not going to be able to get a divorce.

We are currently homeless, staying at different friend's places, super stressed and scared about the death threats and are struggling for our daily survival. Obtaining legal documents is unaffordable for us, since the economic crisis in Turkey is hitting us particularly hard. And securing a long term housing has been impossible so far, since as a lesbian refugee couple we are struggling to even find a landlord who is accepting us as tenants.

We need to raise 8.000€ to cover legal fees, paper work, and deposit for a place to secure our safety and stability in Turkey.

This amount will help us to:

I managed to somehow get by the last years without asking for support, but since Hala just arrived and the situation in Turkey became more dire for queer refugees, I’m turning to the community to get support for this time.

We would be extremely grateful for any contribution.

xoxo,

Saja & Hala