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• Refugee commissioner says ���Ǻ��� persecution not criterion for asylum
• ���Ǻ��� asylum seekers' cases are delayed - U.N.
• Gay and trans Ugandans feel trapped in limbo in Kenya

NAIROBI - The man in charge of processing hundreds of thousands of asylum applications in Kenya says sexual minorities have no special rights on his watch, heightening anxiety among ���Ǻ��� asylum seekers that their claims may be lost in limbo.

Kenya is one of Africa's biggest hosts of refugees, with more than 770,000 people seeking or having asylum. Of those, more than a quarter are waiting for their status to be determined, according to the United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR.

While the government said it does not have a figure for the number of ���Ǻ��� asylum seekers, the U.N. estimated in 2021 that Kenya was sheltering 1,000 ���Ǻ��� refugees.

The number of ���Ǻ��� refugees in Kenya has likely grown since 2023, when neighbouring Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act – considered

Many ���Ǻ��� applicants in Kenya are - an issue that the ���Ǻ��� put to the official in charge of their hopes for asylum.

John Burugu, the country's refugee commissioner, said Kenya would not count persecution on the grounds of sexuality or gender as a free pass to asylum.

"We are not interested in anyone's sexual identity," Burugu said in a telephone interview in Nairobi in September.

"That is their business, but it will not be a measure of convincing us to admit someone who fails to meet the threshold of being admitted as a refugee or asylum seeker."

Any asylum seeker who meets the legal definition set by would be granted protection after due process, Burugu said.

That legislation considers refugees to be people fleeing foreign aggression or facing persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a social group.

Delays

While ���Ǻ��� people are not explicitly protected under the Refugees Act, they are "normally recognised as refugees" by Kenya when they seek asylum, said Kathryn Porteous, a Nairobi-based UNHCR spokesperson.

The UNHCR turned over the processing of asylum applications in Kenya to the government in 2016.

But the UNHCR also said that applications by ���Ǻ��� asylum seekers had slowed in the last three years and urged Kenya's Department of Refugee Services (DRS) to reduce delays. 

"Since 2021, UNHCR has observed that such claims have been increasingly kept on hold without a decision being made," Porteous said in an email.

"UNHCR continues to advocate with DRS to resolve the pending case load and to ensure access to asylum for LGBTIQ+ refugees in Kenya," she said. 

The average time to process an asylum application in Kenya is about 12 months, according to Burugu. However, some ���Ǻ��� applicants say theirs are taking far longer and fear they are languishing at the bottom of the queue.

Burugu said his department was working to reduce waiting times with measures like streamlining registration and documentation and introducing a biometric data system.

"Things got slower during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are working hard to clear the backlog," he said.

Speaking out

Sulah, 30, fled Uganda in 2016 after receiving death threats for being gay, hoping for a fresh start in Kenya.

Instead, Sulah said he fell into an administrative purgatory, waiting three years for an appointment to determine his refugee status. 

"I came to Kenya because living in Uganda was tantamount to signing my own death wish," said Sulah, who does not feel safe using his full name. He spoke in a phone interview from Nairobi.

Sulah asked Burugu directly at a refugee conference in August about the difficulty ���Ǻ��� individuals face in their asylum applications.

Burugu responded by saying Kenya accepted refugees who are persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion - "but nothing to do with those letters," referring to the ���Ǻ��� acronym. The exchange was recorded on video.

Kevin Muiruri, a human rights lawyer in Nairobi, said the Kenyan constitution took precedence over the Refugee Act and must guide how ���Ǻ��� asylum seekers are treated. 

"The Bill of Rights prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex and gender, and this same principle should apply to queer people," said Muiruri. "A refugee is a refugee."

���Ǻ��� Ugandans have been seeking shelter in Kenya since at least 2014, when Kampala introduced legislation that rights defenders say permits discrimination against ���Ǻ��� people and makes them more susceptible to violence.

Last year, Uganda went further, criminalising same-sex conduct with penalties of up to life in prison and, in some cases, death. The draconian measures have prompted United States and World Bank sanctions.

Nairobi processed 3,978 applicants from Uganda as of May 2024, , though the number of those processed on the grounds of sexual or gender persecution was not given.

Although Kenya is viewed as a relatively safe haven for Ugandans fleeing persecution for their sexual identity, the uncertainty many face has them fearful for their future.

Emmalia, a 29-year-old transgender activist from Uganda, left Kampala for Nairobi in September 2023 after her home was attacked. Now she feels stuck.

"I cannot go back to Uganda because of security reasons, while at the same time, I cannot move out of Kenya since I don't have the requisite papers," said Emmalia, who asked that only her first name be used.

She said Burugu's public stance on ���Ǻ��� asylum applications made her fear for her safety.

"If a government official who is supposed to protect my interests is the same person issuing such statements, where should I run to when attacked?" she asked.  

This story is part of a series supported by Hivos's programme.

(Reporting by Jackson Okata; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths, Sadiya Ansari and Ayla Jean Yackley.)