ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

Ntina Tzavara 225 Another important group of asylum seekers vulnerable to experiencing additional abuse while being detained are LGBTQI (that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer and Intersex people, indicatory not restrictive listing). Statistically, LGBTQI persons face higher risks of being the target of mur- der attempts, gender and sexual orientation based violence, false accusations, abuses and deprivation of fundamental human rights, such as the right to assem- bly and expression 27 . Furthermore, LGBTQI refugees face multiple forms of discrimination that tend to aggravate during administrative detention 28 . In detention institutes, a strong sense of chain of command is generated among detainees. In this hierarchical structure, LGBTQI are placed on the bottom and deal with daily discriminating at- titudes. The situation is even more difficult for male-to-female transgender appli- cants, due to the fact that they are usually held in male wings and confront higher risk of threat. Things may become even more serious when it comes to transgen- der individuals, whose physical appearance and self-identification is not the same with the sex recorded in their legal documents 29 . Numerous reports of human rights experts conclude that a detainee who belongs to a sexual minority is more likely to face physical and sexual abuse or maltreat- ment, either from the staff working in detention facilities, or from other detain- ees 30 . As a consequence of the context, LGBTQI people, who would either way be reluctant in presenting their claim, are compelled to behave even more de- fensively, in order to protect themselves in the specific environment, thus with- holding important information about their claim 31 . Thus, an LGBTQI applicant is 27. UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection No. 9: Claims to Refugee Status based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 23 October 2012, page 2, 4. 28. International Commission of Jurists, Refugee Status Claims Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, A practitioner’s guide No11, February 2016. 29. UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection No. 9: Claims to Refugee Status based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 23 October 2012, page 7. 30. For example, see UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinions No. 22/2006 on Cameroon and No. 42/2008 on Egypt; A/HRC/16/47, annex, per. 8(e) and UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention’, 2012, (hereafter “UNHCR, Guidelines on Detention”), available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/503489533b8. html. 31. Meaker M. , LGBT asylum seekers face ‘intimate questions’, prejudice in Germany, The Reuters, available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-lgbt-asylum/lgbt- asylum-seekers-face-intimate-questions-prejudice-in-germany-idUSKBN1AG1FI.