Queering Asylum in Europe: A Survey Report

Andrade, Vítor Lopes; Danisi, Carmelo; Dustin, Moira; Ferreira, Nuno; Held, Nina

doi:10.31235/osf.io/kn6af

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Twenty-four applicants attended school for less than 12 yr, eight for less than 9 yr and 24 for less than 6 yr. This is a different landscape than the one in many other European countries where asylum seekers have obtained a higher level of education (Andrade et al, 2020). A possible explanation of this phenomenon is that in general Greece is not considered a desirable destination among refugees and consequently refugees who belong to an upper social class can afford the longer journey toward richer countries.…”

Section: Ignoring the Intersection Of Sexuality With Classmentioning

confidence: 93%

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Zisakou¹

2021

Front. Hum. Dyn.

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The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the main practices that the Greek Asylum Service applies to assess credibility in asylum claims based on sexual orientation. The analysis is based on a survey of 60 cases (interviews and first instance decisions). According to the results of the survey, the practices used could be divided into two categories. On the one hand, practices that do not conform with refugee law, the Common European Asylum System, and human rights standards, such as questions around sexual practices of the asylum seekers, stereotyped expectations about applicants’ behavior and knowledge, and arbitrary assessments lacking any legal reasoning. On the other hand, practices that, at first sight, comply with international and European guidelines for credibility assessment but are based on an essentialist understanding of lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity. According to the research, applicants are expected to have passed through a hard process of self-realization which has to be accompanied, by default, by feelings of difference, shame, and suffering. In the article, the author critically reflects on the practices applied, concluding that this notion of sexual orientation as innate and defining one’s identity, fails to take into account the intersections of gender, class, ethnicity, and race, and could lead to unjust judgments.

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Section: Ignoring the Intersection Of Sexuality With Classmentioning

confidence: 93%

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Zisakou¹

2021

Front. Hum. Dyn.

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“…These relate mainly to the discretion requirement and disbelief towards asylum applicants as being LGBTQI+ (e.g. Andrade et al, 2020;Berg and Millbank, 2013;Dustin and Held, 2018;Millbank, 2009). In addition, identity-based questions often disregard the particular discourse and practice in non-Western countries, where identification with a particular social group often follows other paths.…”

Section: Problematic Legal Framework: Gender Identity and Expression In Refugee Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transit*: Transgender and gender nonconforming asylum claimants’ narratives in Greece

Avgeri¹

2021

Sexualities

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In this article, I reflect on two interviews of transgender/gender nonconforming asylum claimants in the broader West. In the Trans*it documentary that my partners and I created, a non-binary person and a transgender woman, Ilios and Christina, interview each other on the difficulties of being a transgender/gender nonconforming asylum applicant in Greece. Greece is an understudied area with huge migration flows at the border of the EU and has no official data for Sexual Orientation Gender Identity asylum claims. The documentary, this article contends, provides a starting point for reflecting on the experiences of transgender/gender nonconforming applicants at the borders of Europe and their transition from their country of origin to the West/Greece, and for importing non-Western migrant subjectivities into our current thinking on sexuality/gender. In particular, I problematize the legal framework of Refugee Status Determination and explore the decolonization of gender identity/expression in refugee law. Finally, I reflect on the process of making the documentary and my attempt to centre the voices of gender nonconforming asylum claimants while minimizing the impact of my gaze as a white Greek researcher in the field. In doing so, this article shows how documentary film can be used as a means to further considerations of gendered normativities of asylum claims in a key, yet understudied, context. It concludes by arguing for a decolonializing approach that questions the normalization of Western standards of gender, and their transgression, in Refugee Status Determination. [Media: see text]

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“…However, what arose in this report in contrast to the "Fleeing Homophobia" report is that issues related to the country of origin of LGBTI+ claimants have become a central part of their struggles. Respondents from organizations supporting LGBTI+ asylum seekers reported that accurate country of origin information was often unavailable; and when asked about the differences they perceived in the treatment of LGBTI+ asylum claims, "country of origin" was reported as the primary factor legitimizing such differences (Andrade et al, 2020).…”

Section: Gender-sensitive Safeguards To "Safe Country" Practices: a Stalematementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of appropriate LGBTI-specific country of origin information has been signaled as particularly problematic in recent years (Jansen, 2014;Andrade et al, 2020). Several of the organizations interviewed reported submitting country of origin reports for the claimants they were supporting to complement the partial information possessed by asylum authorities.…”

Section: Legitimizing Informal Practices Of Ex Ante Exclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many Member States, countries that punish homosexuality such as Senegal-where it can lead to prison sanctions-are considered "safe" (Winter, 2012). In 2020, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum (SOGICA) project produced a report (Andrade et al, 2020) that highlighted the centrality of country of origin factors in LGBTI+ asylum claims, with supporters of LGBTI+ asylum seekers reporting that country of origin was the primary factor used by authorities to legitimize differences in the treatment of LGBTI+ asylum claims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward a Gender-Sensitive Securitization of the Common European Asylum System

Bellec

2021

Front. Hum. Dyn.

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EU Member States may legally designate a country as a Safe Country of Origin when human rights and democratic standards are generally respected. For nationals of these countries, asylum claims are treated in an accelerated way, the underlying objective of the “safe country” designation being to facilitate the rapid return of unsuccessful claimants to their country of origin. The concept of “safe country” was initially blind to gender-based violence. Yet, in the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which began in 2016, the European Commission proposed two changes: first, that a common list of “safe countries” should be applied in all Member States, and second, that this concept should be interpreted in a “gender-sensitive” manner. In consequence, the generalization of a policy that has been documented as largely detrimental to asylum seekers has been accompanied by the development of special guarantees for LGBTI+ asylum seekers. In light of this, there is a need to examine the impact of “safe country” practices on LGBTI+ claimants and to investigate the extent to which the securitization of European borders is compatible with LGBTI+ inclusion. Based on a qualitative document analysis of EU “safe country” policies and on interviews with organizations supporting LGBTI+ asylum seekers, this article shows that despite the implementation of gender-sensitive safeguards, LGBTI+ asylum seekers are particularly affected by “safe country” practices. These practices permeate European asylum systems beyond the application of official lists, depriving many LGBTI+ asylum seekers of their right to have their protection claims fairly assessed.

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Queering Asylum in Europe: A Survey Report

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Transit*: Transgender and gender nonconforming asylum claimants’ narratives in Greece

Toward a Gender-Sensitive Securitization of the Common European Asylum System

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Queering Asylum in Europe: A Survey Report

Cited by 7 publications

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Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation by the Greek Asylum Service: A Deep-Rooted Culture of Disbelief

Trans*it: Transgender and gender nonconforming asylum claimants’ narratives in Greece

Toward a Gender-Sensitive Securitization of the Common European Asylum System

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Transit*: Transgender and gender nonconforming asylum claimants’ narratives in Greece