The regional government in the German state of Saxony has created a network for homosexual migrants due to the rising number of attacks and harassment they face from fellow asylum seekers.
The Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs announced Monday that the new initiative would create a network for homosexual asylum seekers so they would be free from potential violence, discrimination, and harassment.
The government had pledged €80,000 over a period of two years in order to help facilitate the project to counter the rise in violence from predominately Muslim asylum seekers toward homosexuals in asylum homes, German broadcaster NDR reports.
The network will consist of several organisations that work directly with homosexual migrants in asylum homes, self-help groups, and government administration. The funds allocated for the project will also go toward education for migrants on how Germany treats people of different sexual identities and will do so in coordination with several groups such as the Queer Network of Lower Saxony.
Project coordinator Kadir Özdemir has remarked that even in the first few days of the network being set up, many migrants have sought help from the service.
Social Minister Cornelia Rundt, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), also announced plans to create asylum homes specifically for homosexual and transgender migrants in the region. She claimed that a major element of the so-called “welcome culture” would be to prevent migrants from thinking that they were alone on issues like dealing with violence because of their sexual orientation.
The gay-only asylum home is scheduled to be created in Hanover and will house nine migrants, all of which are expected to be gay men.
The huge wave of violence toward homosexuals, transsexuals, and other minorities in asylum homes has been a major issue in Germany and other countries who have taken in large numbers of predominately Muslim migrants. Earlier this year it was reported that an increasing number of homosexuals had experienced physical violence by fellow migrants due to their sexuality and were fleeing asylum homes in droves.
The Saxony government is following in the footsteps of the Berlin government who earlier this year created an asylum home for homosexuals and other minorities who they said were under serious threat. The Lesbian and Gay Berlin-Brandenburg (LSVD) group claimed the need was great after citing that within only a few months they had received over 95 reports of harassment or violence toward homosexual migrants in asylum homes.
Neighbouring Austria has also debated creating separate migrant homes due to an increasing number of attacks on homosexual migrants in the country’s asylum homes.