LGBTIQ+ in Afghanistan: Federal government approves admission

They were persecuted by the Taliban, tortured and lived in hiding for months. Now 25 homosexual and transgender Afghans are still allowed to travel to Germany. So far they have hardly had a chance of admission.

The federal government has given 25 homosexual and transgender Afghans an acceptance as part of the bridging programme. The Afghan activist Ali Tawakoli, together with the queer association “Rat und Tat” from Bremen, had previously submitted 200 applications for humanitarian visas to the Federal Foreign Office, but received no response.

The Foreign Office did get in touch last week, reports Jörg Hutter from “Rat und Tat”: “Suddenly we had an email from the Foreign Office. We were very surprised,” says Hutter. In it: the admission commitments for 25 LGBTIQ+ activists (lesbian, gay/gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual and queer) and also transgender people.

Criteria apparently expanded

This is a novelty. Until now, the federal government’s criterion for issuing humanitarian visas was that of being exposed – in other words, the fact that people were particularly persecuted by the Taliban because of their activities. These included local forces from the Bundeswehr and other organizations, but also activists like Ali Tawakoli. So far, transsexuals have had no chance of being accepted.

The Federal Foreign Office does not confirm the commitments and points out that there are no reports on the processing status of applications, but concedes: Since public engagement as LGBTI defenders in Afghanistan was very difficult even before the Taliban took power, it was the concept of commitment has been interpreted broadly and public appearances as an LGBTI person have already been evaluated as a form of commitment.

risk of torture and death

According to Ali Tawakoli, transgender people with very feminine traits were particularly persecuted by the Taliban because of their appearance. “They were easy to spot,” says Tawakoli. They were threatened with torture and even execution. That’s why he has been campaigning for months for these people in particular to get out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, says the 30-year-old.

With the federal government’s new admission program, this will apply to all persecuted queer Afghans in the future. They are now among the vulnerable groups, like local workers or activists.

A risky new stage is now beginning for the 25 LGBTIQ+ Afghans. You need to make it safely out of Afghanistan to one of the neighboring countries. Only from there can they be flown to Germany. That can take months.