The European Refugee Fund has given an Irish youth organisation €200,000 to educate asylum services on LGBT refugees.

BelongTo works with LGBT youths directly in Dublin and provides support throughout the country. This grant will fund a three-year programme acquainting asylum personnel on how to deal with LGBT refugees and will also fund a support service for LGBT migrants within Ireland. The money from the European Commission has been supplemented with a further €60,000 from the Health Service Executive.

Although the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service does not provide definite figures on the number of LGBT refugee cases, BelongTo have dealt with a series of cases where young people have fled their countries of origin due to fears over their sexual orientation. BelongTo director Michael Barron explained that some refugees are too scared to admit their sexual identity during the asylum application process in case they are refused and “outed” before being sent back. Many of these refugees are fleeing from persecution in Middle Eastern and African countries.

Barron explained that the project’s main aim would be to increase the capacity of Irish asylum services and the Department of Justice. He also pointed out that asylum seekers are often unaware that they can claim asylum on the basis of their sexuality. He highlighted the fact that housing LGBT refugees in hostels with people from the same countries can lead to further persecution.

[Via Irish Times]

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