Openly Logo
LGBTQ+ stories on Context

This country sheltered LGBTQ+ refugees. Now they want to leave

Asylum seekers looks into a mirror. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Kenya is the only country in East Africa to offer asylum to LGBTQ+ people fleeing oppressive laws in neighbouring countries such as Uganda.

But for many LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, it has become another place of abuse, where they live on the margins awaiting official refugee status, and must still hide their true selves.

While the country still hosts LGBTQ+ refugees, asylum seekers say their applications are on hold — sometimes for years. 

And John Burugu, the country's refugee commissioner, previously told Context that Kenya would not count persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity as a free pass to asylum, after at least a decade of offering sanctuary to LGBTQ+ people.

At the same time, the region's rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is now taking root in Kenya, with conservative politicians pushing harsher laws in a country where same-sex relations are already illegal. 

Why is Kenya no longer a safe place for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers? And how much longer can they remain in a country that is becoming increasingly hostile towards queer people?

We traveled to Nairobi to find out.

This story is part of a series supported by Hivos's Free To Be Me programme.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel | Watch more videos like this

FEATURED


Latest

See all

KICKING IT

We’re addicted to the things that we know are bad for the planet. Why is it so hard to quit them?


Lab Made

A series about an industry challenging the way we think about food and whether it can live up to its promise of changing the world


REROOTED

See all

In this series, we explore how climate change and shifting consumer habits are forcing us to rethink the way we grow staple crops, from coffee to rice