The queer community in Kenya has condemned the government’s policy of discriminating against LGBTQ asylum seekers, and has launched a petition that challenges it.

The community, through an All Out petition drive, accuses Kenya’s Department of Refugee Services of putting queer asylum seekers at more risk of “persecution, violence, and exploitation” by not recognizing them as afflicted refugees.

The action is in response to Refugee Affairs Commissioner John Burugu’s comments in an interview last month where he said Kenya would not consider persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity as a direct pass to asylum.

Burugu during a telephone interview said “we are not interested in anyone’s sexual identity,” and his department will not be convinced that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sufficient grounds for admission as an asylum seeker or refugee.

The Kenya 2021 Refugees Act, which governs Burugu’s department in the admission of refugees and asylum seekers in the country, does not explicitly recognize queer people among vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution. The law only recognizes refugees or asylum seekers as people who are persecuted based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a social group. 

Opposition MP George Kaluma’s proposed anti-homosexuality law also seeks the expulsion of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Kenya.   

“Decision-makers like the Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya are failing to uphold international human rights standards while the media and major NGOs remain silent,” reads the petition.

It notes the exclusion of LGBTQ refugees has left the majority of them vulnerable to more trauma and isolation.

They can wait up to a decade for the department to issue a decision on their asylum applications. It typically takes 12 months to process asylum applications in Kenya.

The petitioners note this delay has also increased violence, discrimination, and persecution of queer asylum seekers by the public and government authorities without any legal protection.   

“Historically, Kenya provided refuge for LGBTQ+ people fleeing danger, but the situation has worsened dramatically since 2017,” reads the petition. “From 2017, the government refused to process LGBTQ+ asylum claims, forcing over 400 people to flee to South Sudan in search of safety.”

This change is due to the U.N. Refugee Agency’s handing over the processing of asylum applications in Kenya to the government under the Department of Refugee Services in 2016. 

UNHCR has admitted to slowing the processing of queer asylum seekers’ applications since surrendering the duty to the Kenyan government. It has asked the Department of Refugee Services to resolve the problem.

More than 200 people have signed the petition, which organizers hope to present to Kenyan and international human rights bodies that include UNHCR Kenya, the Department of Refugee Service, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya. Other groups include the UNHCR High Commissioner in Geneva, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Amnesty International, the International Organization for Migration, and the Church World Service.     

The petitioners want the bodies to “take immediate action” to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers in Kenya against discrimination and exclusion, noting it not only violates queer peoples’ basic human rights, but disregards Nairobi’s obligations under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention.  

“As key decision-makers, you have the power to reverse this exclusion and ensure that the LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are protected from harm and granted the rights they are due,” reads the petition.

There are more than an estimated 1,000 LGBTQ refugees in Kenya. Many queer people — especially from Uganda — continue to flee to Kenya in the wake of the enactment of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023.

The petitioners want queer asylum seekers recognized for admission and their applications expedited like other refugees and their concerns over discrimination and violence addressed.

“The Department of Refugee Services should officially retract the discriminatory statement made by the DRS commissioner, which excluded LGBTQ+ individuals from protection under the refugee mandate,” reads the petition.

The petitioners also want queer people represented in the Global Refugee Forum and the Refugee Working Groups to have their voices heard and needs addressed in global decision-making processes.

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, a Kenyan LGBTQ rights group, described Burugu’s sentiments as “deeply concerning, regrettable, and against the law.”   

CMRSL Legal Manager Michael Kioko told the Washington Blade the organization has received many complaints from queer refugees and asylum seekers about homophobic discrimination and other violations in the country. The Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya, he said, took no action to address them.

“The DRS commissioner is obligated under Section 21 of the Refugees Act to ensure measures are taken to protect asylum seekers who have been traumatized or require special protection. This includes LGBTIQ+ refugees in Kenya,” Kioko said.

He noted this directive is also in line with the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees to which Kenya is a signatory, and applicable under Article 2(6) of the constitution.

“It is imperative that the Department of Refugee Services adheres to its obligations under the Refugees Act and the Constitution to protect LGBTIQ+ refugees,” Kioko said. “Their safety must be prioritized, especially in light of the increasing violence and discrimination that LGBTIQ+ persons in Kenya are facing.”

Kioko added Kenyan courts have ruled queer people are members of a social group the Refugees Act recognizes for admission as refugees in cases of persecution, and LGBTQ asylum seekers cannot be excluded.

A Kenyan LGBTQ rights organization has adopted a virtual legal aid platform that allows its lawyers to offer free services to queer people remotely.    

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, which unveiled the online LGBTQ+ Legal Aid Clinic platform, attributes the move to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the wide use of online meetings.    

“The LGBTQ+ Online Legal Aid Clinic is, we believe, the first of its kind in Kenya providing pro bono legal advice services directly to the LGBTQ community,” CMRSL states.  

The online legal aid clinic connecting CMRSL advocates and queer people via Zoom, Google, and other virtual platforms is an extension of the organization’s physical legal aid clinic launched in 2020 to consolidate the volunteer lawyers’ free legal services it has been offering since 2007. 

The organization recognizes the Canadian government’s financial support in setting up the two legal aid clinics.   

Michael Kioko, a CMRSL advocate, told the Washington Blade the organization first thought about adopting an online legal aid clinic for the queer community during the COVID-19 period during which officials limited movement to combat the virus. 

“We noted that we could reach people far across the country like Kakuma Refugee Camp where we have attended to LGBTQ refugees and also realized that we could work with more volunteer advocates across the nation,” Kioko said.

The organization has about 20 volunteer advocates who are trained on LGBTQ issues in order to be sensitive to queer clients. 

Both the CMRSL’s physical and online legal aid clinics have offered services to more than 1,000 queer clients since 2020. Kioko noted CMRSL receives more than 40 cases a month through the online platform.  

“The cases we receive include house evictions from homophobic discrimination as the most common, especially in Mombasa and Lamu, physical assault, and verbal abuse,” Kioko stated.

Other cases CMRSL advocates handle for the queer community are name changes for transgender women, child custody cases for bisexual women, disputes between lesbian or bisexual partners, and work to ensure a witness to a queer person’s assault stands with them until the perpetrator is convicted.

“We are also handling criminal defense cases where LGBTQ persons have been charged in court and they are two for transgender women (one case in Lamu was acquitted), we have four cases for four gay men (two cases have been withdrawn), and under civil cases in the children’s court we have four cases by bisexual women,” Kioko said.

The LGBTQ rights organization also has filed two petitions in the Court of Appeal that challenged the country’s anti-homosexuality laws.

“We are also planning to set up a legal desk by this year to deal with cases that require long-term commitment,” Kioko said.

The organization has been conducting public forums to enlighten the LGBTQ community on accessing justice through free legal help through its physical and virtual clinics.

CMRSL, however, demands any LGBTQ person seeking its services by filling a legal aid form not to be under 18-years-old. It takes at least three days for the lawyer to have a virtual consultation with a potential client, and, if necessary, would then refer them to a nearby legal clinic for physical assistance.  

The organization also limits its legal assistance to individual matters that include criminal, family, employment, blackmail, assault, and discrimination cases based on sexual and gender identity or expression.    

“We will not provide advice to businesses or in respect of business dealings unless the advice sought is on an issue that arises out of one’s SOGIE,” states CMRSL.  

CMRSL also does not offer legal advice on financial matters, such as investment, sale, or purchase of property or other assets unless the help sought is on an issue that relates to one’s LGBTQ identity.  

Kioko noted that adopting the online legal aid clinic has been impactful in helping CMRSL handle many issues almost at once and asked the LGBTQ community to embrace the virtual platform.  

“The platform is more flexible and convenient both for the advocate and the client,” he said. “It is also more private and safe for the client compared to the physical legal clinic which has some privacy risks like homophobic stigma.”

CMRSL under its values and strict data protection policy assures its LGBTQ clients of treating all information submitted or collected with utmost confidentiality.

Kioko noted that the lack of smartphones to access the internet and sometimes network connection for LGBTQ people in remote areas remains a big challenge for some queer persons to use the virtual legal clinic. Lawyers and queer people can consult with CMRSL via phone calls when their clients don’t have smartphones.