18/03/2020 | Writer: Yıldız Tar

The long wait of the refugees at the border continues. The refugee LGBTI+'s we interviewed say that the conditions are very difficult and say, "Nobody even talks about us."

Refugee LGBTI+’s at the border: “Everyone forgot about us” Kaos GL - News Portal for LGBTI+

Photo taken by refugee LGBTI+’s at the border

The wait for refugees trapped between Turkey and Greece continues. The border with Greece is closed, and Greek police are frequently attacking refugees with gas bombs and rubber bullets. And sometimes real bullets are being used too. Refugees waiting in Turkey are dealing with hunger, thirst, cold, police and military police…

Among those waiting at the border, there are refugee LGBTI+'s too. The refugee LGBTI+’s who we interviewed before said, "They forced us to the border, we want to leave now" and explained the difficulties they experienced. The refugee LGBTI+' we interviewed again said that the wait is getting harder and harder.

A refugee trans male who spoke to KaosGL.org recalled that they have been waiting for 15 days and were taken to the border by the police force despite they did not want to there.

"There are a lot of people here, young children, pregnant women. It’s very cold here and we’re running low of supplies. There is not enough tents, shoes, not enough of any kind of these supplies. I haven't showered in 15 days. We have twenty sinks for thousands of people here. We are living in very hard conditions. There are very long lines for meals. When you line up for breakfast in the morning, you can get dinner by the time you arrive at the food stand in the evening. There are brawls at night. The police and gendarmerie are beating us. Everyone forgot about us. Now the world is only thinking about corona. No one's thinking about us. I'm a trans man. I left my country, my land, my family and came here. To live normally. But I haven't lived normally here in the last five years. I can't live like other people. Nobody likes foreigners in Turkey. No one likes LGBTI+’s anyway, no one wants them. I have no idea what's going to happen. I just have a little hope left. I don't know when that ends too. The people here have a right to live, and they want freedom, they want to live normally. The kids here… It’s unclear what's going to happen."

Another refugee LGBTI+ we interviewed said that the weather is very cold, "They forgot about us. They forgot about refugee LGBTI+’s. Nobody's doing anything for us. Nobody even talks about us," they said.

Translation: Yiğit E. Korkmaz


Tags: human rights
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