When Felix fled Turkmenistan in October last year, he left behind his wife and children. It was, he says, “the toughest decision” he’s ever made, but he had no choice. Turkmenistan is a totalitarian state with an extremely poor human rights record. A culture of surveillance makes life suffocating and oppressive. Unregistered religious groups are systematically persecuted. Critically, in Felix's case, the penalty for same-sex relations is two years in prison.
Felix, whose name has been changed, knew he was gay from age eight. By 15, word had got out that he had been intimate with other men. The rumours brought shame upon his family. “I would rather you were dead,” his father told him. Felix was bullied and regularly beaten up. He was prescribed tranquillisers and told to see a hypnotherapist who sought to convince him he was straight. Under pressure from his family, he married a woman when he was in his twenties. They had three children before splitting up.
After that, Felix lived alone. He occasionally met men via dating apps. It proved a dangerous game.
What happened next sounds like something out of a Black Mirror episode: policemen trapping homosexuals by cat-fishing them online.
In 2020, a man Felix was chatting to online came to meet him for a date. “He asked me, ‘are you gay? Do you have any other partners?’” Felix said. Felix replied but it turned out the man was recording him and then he showed Felix his police identity and arrested him. Felix got a nine-day sentence and a warning that repeat offending would carry a more severe penalty. He fell into depression. Then things got even worse. He tested positive for HIV.
“I had a mental breakdown,” Felix said. Finally, after years of mental anguish, he travelled to the UK and claimed asylum.
Around two percent of asylum claims in the UK include sexual orientation as part of the basis for their claim, equivalent to 1,334 claims in 2022. When people like Felix state on their asylum application that they belong to the LGBT community, they are taking a calculated risk - it might increase their chances of being persecuted here as well.
This is because for many LGBT refugees fleeing persecution in their home country, asylum seeker accommodation in the UK means sharing housing with some people who might share the anti-gay prejudice from which they sought to escape.
Sebastian Rocca, the founder of Micro Rainbow, a charity that supports LGBTQ asylum seekers in the UK, told me of an incident in which a lesbian refugee from Uganda had her room set on fire by fellow claimants who found out about her sexuality. Many people continue to hide their identity to protect their families back home due to a risk of “honour killing”. In some countries, homosexuality is viewed as satanic; a hereditary curse. This puts entire families at risk.
Once Felix’s asylum claim had been processed, he was moved into asylum seeker accommodation in Margate. His new neighbours called him “marmuta” – Arabic for “whore”. “When I came to the canteen, everybody would stand up and leave: they didn’t want me at their table. They looked at me like I was dirty.” Felix fell ill. He came across Micro Rainbow in a moment of desperation.
Micro Rainbow is one of the organisations being funded by our winter appeal, A Place to Call Home, which we are running in partnership with Comic Relief to help London’s two most disadvantaged groups, refugees and people experiencing homelessness.
The not-for-profit group supports approximately 1,000 LGBTQ asylum seekers every year, helping them as they face discrimination and/or homelessness. These are linked issues: roughly 40 percent of LGBTQ refugees have become homeless due to the punitive 28-day move-on period that asylum seekers - who have just been given refugee status - were given before being evicted from Home Office accommodation. (Last week, in a major win for refugees and our campaign, the Government announced a trial doubling of the move-on period from 28 days to 56 days, as lobbied for by charities and our campaign.)
Within 24 hours of contacting Micro Rainbow, Felix was moved from Margate into safe accommodation in London. “The staff is very friendly to me,” he said. Besides helping with housing, “Micro Rainbow helped me with my social isolation,” he added. “They have programs focused on social inclusion and connect you with people who have gone through similar experiences. It’s amazing to feel you’re not alone.” Within weeks, Felix was offered a move to safe housing in Birmingham.
Part of Micro Rainbow’s mission is to provide pathways to employment. Rocca told me that finding a job while applying for benefits, learning a new language and trying to find a place to live is well-nigh impossible: and yet our system makes it even harder to do so. Asylum seekers face a 12-month wait before they can apply to work in the UK, and even then, only for jobs listed on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List (recently renamed the Immigration Salary List).
As part of our campaign, The Standard is lobbying the Government to reduce the work ban to six months or less, which would bring us in line with other European countries.
Felix had enjoyed a successful career in Turkmenistan where he was an engineer and he hopes to one day work here. “I want to be able to live life like anyone else: pay my bills, have a house and food on the table,” he said. Micro Rainbow advocates for refugee employment rights and helps people like Felix improve their English, build their confidence and apply for jobs.
The charity is a lifeline for refugees like Felix. Most LGBTQ refugees have only ever known discrimination and they struggle with self-loathing and feelings of anxiety. For the first time, thanks to Micro Rainbow, Felix said he felt “treated with respect”. “I am even open about my HIV status,” he said. “I am confident now. I feel protected.” Thanks to Micro Rainbow, he said, the future looks “bright”.
In a nutshell
Our winter appeal, A Place to Call Home, in partnership with Comic Relief, is seeking to help fund organisations in London and across the country that support asylum seekers and people experiencing homelessness.
To make a donation, visit: comicrelief.com/winter
How you can help
£10 could provide a young person travel to meet a wellbeing mentor and have a hot meal
£50 could provide travel to work or school for a month for an at-risk youth
£150 could refurbish a bike for an adult refugee giving them freedom to travel independently
£500 could train ten people with experience of homelessness to become homeless health advocates
£1,000 could enable one of our partners to fully support a young person throughout the year
