Two phases of fieldwork of two months each were carried out in Cologne, Heidelberg, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, and Frankfurt to gather ethnographic data on the challenges LGBTQI Muslims face within Germany’s asylum system. Apart from this, legal documents, policy reports, and media reporting have been gathered throughout the fellowship in addition to the ethnographic data. During the 2 years of fellowship, the insights gathered were presented at 2 workshops, 1 brown bag, 11 academic and professional conferences, 1 public panel discussion, 1 research lab, and 1 podcast. Moreover, the data is published in 2 peer-reviewed and 3 non-peer reviewed journals, 5 Newspaper articles, 3 blog posts and 3 policy briefs. A special issue on the topic has been accepted for publication by Ethnic and Racial Studies. Moreover, the study was mentioned in 18 news outlets. Based on the networks established in the context of this research project, the researcher co-founded the Queer European Asylum Network, an umbrella organization that brings together NGO practitioners, LGBTQI+ refugees and activists and academics.
Through these activities, this project produced two results, which opened up more questions which deserve more scientific attention in future research on queer asylum.
First, this project generated important scientific data on the relationship between immigration policy, Islamophobia and sexuality. Based on the analysis of the data, the study shows that the most successful applicants were very well informed about what is expected from them at the asylum interview. Particularly Muslim men were expected to confirm with Western lifestyle of homosexuality while at the same time confirming islamophobic attitudes toward their Muslim communities as intrinsically homophobic. While Germany and Europe are traditionally seen as a safe havens for LGBTQI+ refugees compared to many majority Muslim countries - where homosexuality is illegal - there is a concern that the narratives and stereotypes perpetuated by the German asylum system may serve right-wing discourses on immigration in Germany, where Muslims are often portrayed as a threat to national safety.
Secondly, the study found that in Germany, about 95 percent of lesbian asylum cases, lodged by Muslim and Christian affiliated womxn, get rejected after the first interview. This is in contrast to the general rejection rate of LGBTQI+ individuals seeking asylum of 50 percent and that of heterosexual women of 30 percent. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) does not collect data specifically on LGBTQI+ asylum claims. However, estimates gathered by the lesbian organization LeTRa in Munich, with which the researcher collaborated on a Policy Brief, suggest that lesbian asylum seekers face specific challenges when seeking refugee protection in Germany. This particularly applies to the most vulnerable cohort within Germany’s asylum system – lesbian womxn racialized as Black. Besides legal challenges, Black lesbian womxn are more likely to experience sexual violence in reception and refugee camps and suffer forms extreme social isolation due to homophobia, misogyny, and racism. The experiences of lesbians from all religious backgrounds, is not discussed in queer migration scholarship in Europe. The researcher's peer-reviewed article “Victimhood and Femininity in Black Lesbian Asylum Cases in Germany”, published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, is the first of its kind.
