Germany: Protect LGBTIQ* from Ukraine!
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We call on the German government to do everything in its power to grant protection to vulnerable people from Ukraine - with and without Ukrainian citizenship - especially LGBTIQ* who flee to the EU and Germany respectively.

List of first signatories (in German)

We, representatives of various organizations from the LGBTIQ* community in Germany, organized in the Alliance Queer Emergency Ukraine, are very concerned about the situation in and around Ukraine. We receive many messages from LGBTIQ*, their families and their civil society representatives.

Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the situation has dramatically deteriorated. Already on the first day of the invasion, important infrastructure was destroyed. Many people fled within the country, but also towards Romania, Slovakia, Moldova and Poland. Since airports were bombed extensively, people can now only leave Ukraine by land. This escape is greatly complicated by checkpoints, lack of gasoline, and chaotic conditions.

Queer organizations on the ground tell us that trans* people without aligned papers cannot pass through the checkpoints and may not have a biometric passport, which is required for entry into the EU. Currently, only female-read people and children are allowed to cross the adjacent EU borders. It is feared that HIV and trans* medical medication will run out. In addition, the ordered general military mobilization also threatens gay and bisexual men, as well as trans* women and intersex women with a male gender marker. These groups are particularly vulnerable when captured, but also in everyday military life.

Russian aggression is exacerbating the financial crisis in Ukraine and will result in increasing impoverishment of the population. This particularly affects vulnerable people. Socially discriminated minorities, such as people with psychiatric diagnoses, LGBTIQ*, and people with disabilities, were already in a particularly precarious situation before the attack, and are now even more at risk. According to U.S. Foreign Intelligence reports, these vulnerable groups are especially at risk. They could become victims of targeted attacks or be excluded from civil protections due to homophobia and transphobia.

We fear for the safety and lives of LGBTIQ* human rights activists on the ground. Supporting groups and organizations like Insight, Sphere, Kyiv Pride, Cohort, LIGA, HPLGBT, Egalite Intersex Ukraine and Trans*Generation cannot continue their work. Their activists are at risk.

In addition, we are also concerned about the human rights situation of LGBTIQ* refugees from Ukraine in the countries of Central Europe. The largest movement of refugees is expected to Poland, Hungary and Romania. There, refugees in general, and especially minorities in need of protection, experience multiple discrimination. In recent years, the governments of these countries have implemented and enforced policies that are massively hostile to LGBTIQ*. LGBTIQ* refugees are not safe in these countries!

0people have signed
Goal: 20,000

Chancellor Scholz, Vice Chancellor Dr. Habeck, Foreign Minister Baerbock, Interior Minister Faeser, Minister of State Lührmann, Minister of State Alabali-Radovan, Queer Commissioner Lehmann, Human Rights Commissioner Amtsberg:

We call on the federal government:

- to declare their full solidarity with Ukraine;

- to immediately grant people from Ukraine, including those who fled to Ukraine from other countries before the war, a secure residence permit under the Residence Act with permission to work and to work within the framework of the EU Council to ensure that Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 is immediately applied to fleeing Ukrainians;

- to explicitly name vulnerable minorities, such as LGBTIQ*, rainbow families and their human rights defenders on the ground in Germany's protection and support measures;

- Immediately launch and implement a reception program for particularly vulnerable refugees from Ukraine;

- instruct the German police and border guards not to send back refugees from Ukraine in need of special protection to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia or Moldova, but to leave them the possibility of an asylum procedure in Germany;

- advocate that EU member states suspend the "Dublin procedure" and instead agree to a distribution mechanism for refugees from Ukraine;

- Immediately raise awareness of LGBTIQ* issues among the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and other staff working with refugees;

- Help projects, initiatives and NGOs that support LGBTIQ* refugees in Germany and ensure that their work is not criminalized;

- Provide humanitarian assistance on the ground to ensure that refugees receive the medical care they need, including HIV medication and gender reassignment hormones;

- to work towards ensuring that the distribution of LGBTIQ* refugees among the federal states in Germany takes into account the provision of LGBTIQ*-specific counseling as well as their special need for protection when being accommodated;

- to support the federal states in ensuring that LGBTIQ* refugees are accommodated in queer housing facilities, etc., or that they are protected from violence in the best possible way in mass accommodations;

- to enable the reception and crossing of EU borders also to refugees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 with a vaccine recognized in the EU;

- recognize same-sex couples as families when receiving and recognizing Ukrainian LGBTIQ* refugees;

- Enable refugees to go through the entire procedure regardless of whether they have relevant identification documents, vaccination certificates, or proof of kinship between applicants when they arrive as spouses, family, children, grandparents, etc.

We, as representatives of the queer community will support the federal government in this. We are available for a personal conversation about how the queer community in Ukraine can be supported and we thank you for your support. 

Campaign started by Bündnis Queere Nothilfe UKR
0people have signed
Goal: 20,000
Campaign started by Bündnis Queere Nothilfe UKR

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