Report: Persecuted LGBTQ+ Seeking Help Reaches Record High

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: Now, around the world, LGBTQ plus rights have been in decline over the past year, from America, to Europe, to Africa, new laws have been introduced targeting their safety. Kimahli Powell is CEO of Rainbow Railroad, an organization that helps LGBTQ people fleeing persecution. And he’s joining Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the increasing risks facing that community.

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HARI SREENIVASAN, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christiane, thanks. Kimahli Powell, CEO of the Rainbow Railroad, thanks so much for joining us. So, you put out an annual report, and in that report, you document that you received 10,000 requests for aid last year. Why do you think 2022 was the most number of requests you’ve ever had?

KIMAHLI POWELL, CEO, RAINBOW RAILROAD: Our work intersects between two desperate crises. One is that the UNHCR reports that there are 110 million people displaced in 2023. That’s the highest number on record. And at the same time, there are 67 countries that criminalized same sex intimacy. And I think as we see globally a number of GOP political crisis and concerns, whether it is in Afghanistan or Ukraine or earthquakes in Syria, we know that LGBTQ plus persons are increasingly at risk, which is why they reached out to organizations like Rainbow Railroad to help.

SREENIVASAN: So, we recently had World Refugee Day, and tell me a little bit about kind of the compounded problem that it is to be a refugee fleeing your home going into another country and also being LGBTQ plus?

POWELL: You know, the rules of the refugee convention mean that if you are feeling a country based on war, famine, or any other issue, you need to flee your country of origin and go to a neighboring country and register with the U.N. refugee agency. But in the situation of Uganda, which I know is top of mind, for example, people in Uganda need to flee to neighboring Kenya. And both countries criminalize same sex intimacy. So, if you are LGBTQ plus and you are trying to seek protection, the first hurdle is crossing that land border and getting into the country. It’s certainly difficult if you’re a woman or if your trans. But even if you do get to that land border, then you are trying to register for U.N. refugee agency, or get protection in a country that also criminalizes same sex intimacy and discriminates because of sexual orientation or gender identity. And so, we’ve seen documents reports of violence, persecution, both in the country of origin, where people are internally displaced, as they seek refugee protection.

SREENIVASAN: In Uganda, they already have some of the toughest anti-gay laws on the books, and this was a country that you are getting requests from already. But just recently, they passed a law that, I think the phrase is aggravated homosexuality, and it would carry the death penalty. What has that done? Have you seen an impact on that already? I know that this report was based on stuff last here, but what’s happening in Uganda?

POWELL: So, one of the key reasons why we do this report is because there’s very limited data on the persecution of LGBTQ plus persons, which is why we launched it on World Refugee Day. And last year, Uganda was already amongst the top 10 countries of which we received requests for assistance. We were nearly, you know, over 300 requests for assistance. The good thing about our data that we’re able to track that at real-time, so that we can could respond to crisis situations. In 2023, so far, we’ve received double the amount of requests for assistance from Uganda. And the vast majority was now over 600 requests for assistance have come since March, when the anti-homosexuality law was passed in parliament. So, the direct correlation with the further aggravation of these laws and the persecution of people. And now, Uganda is amongst 12 nations that impose the death penalty on people just for who they are or who they love.

SREENIVASAN: So, tell me, what are you able to do? What’s your organization able to do, what are partner organizations on the ground able to do for people who are reaching out to help?

POWELL: Absolutely. Rainbow Railroad has developed a model by which we work collectively with human rights defenders on the ground to verify, identify people at risk. When we do that, we do that — people are able to reach out to us directly online in multiple languages, but we also rely on our partner networks to help us identify cases directly on the ground. Once we do that, we initiate travel options, when we can. Sometimes there are very limited options. And we look at all the tools that we have at our disposal. And then, ultimately, we conduct travel and evacuations ourselves, alongside the individual at risk. Often in those cases, we have to advocate for pathways to safety, calling on governments to work collectively with us, especially when there’s a crisis situation, which would do so as well. And we are continually, then, looking at how we can learn from our work to provide more support for people at risk.

SREENIVASAN: One of the things that, I think, is interesting in your report, when you look down at the list of top 10 countries of request, I mean, you go past Afghanistan and Pakistan and Turkey and Uganda, but down at number eight is the United States. Explain how the United States got on this list of people requesting assistance from organizations like yours.

POWELL: You know, Hari, this is something we are still unpacking as an organization, to be honest. But the data really points to an alarming trend that LGBTQ people from the United States are reaching out to us for assistance. And they are doing it in two aspects. One, they are asylum seekers who are reaching out for assistance, but also, U.S. born citizens who are saying that they are facing danger and are looking for assistance to flee the state, or relocate to another state or another country, which is alarming. But I will say that there’s a direct correlation between those requests for help and U.S. policy across the country. One of the things our data does is look at spikes throughout the year, and we saw two interesting spikes. One was along the adoption of anti-LGBTQ, in particular anti-trans laws in various states like Florida. But the second, which was a little more surprising to us, was after Roe v. Wade. And we — the spike then, I think, was related to some concerns that have since been solved with the Protect for Marriage Act that Roe v. Wade would open the door for less protection for LGBTQ plus persons. And so, you see our data points a general fear from people, and it continues to this year. The United States, in 2023, is amongst the top three countries of request for help, outside of Afghanistan and Uganda. So, it’s a deep concern for us. And we’re looking carefully about how we work with other partners across the country to address this phenomenon.

SREENIVASAN: So, how do you sort out the idea that there are certain states inside this country where you are getting requests for assistance from, and at the same time, this country is also the place where you are trying to resettle some people from other parts of the world, because the rights here are better than what they are fleeing?

POWELL: Yes. To be clear, Rainbow Railroad is continuously advocating with the Biden administration for increased resettlement to the United States. And that is — that continues to be our position. And at the same time, we are monitoring and are concerned about the safety of LGBTQ plus people. You know, we look at when we relocate people through international borders, what we’re really looking for are whether they are generally protections under the law for LGBTQ plus persons and, you know, are there refugee protections for those individuals. And our request — and our assistance in various countries ebb and flow. You know, when LGBTQ plus persons were facing detention under the so-called Muslim ban, previously, for example, we paused resettlement into the United States. And so — and we do that in multiple countries as well. At the moment, you know, even though the states laws are concerning there are still overarching protections legally for LGBTQ plus in the United States. And ultimately, all of our interventions, whether it’s directly in countries that criminalize same sex intimacy or in the United States are always driven by people and partners on the ground. So, in this case, we look really closely to our partners who are asylum seekers, who have sought asylum in the United States and said, you know — and we’re saying and having the conversation, should we continue our efforts and work? And ultimately, they say, yes. Because as people who’ve had the experience of fleeing their country it’s one thing to be concerned about laws in United States, it’s another thing to fleeing your country because it’s life and death. And the United States is still solace for many people.

SREENIVASAN: When you think about the big picture, is there any kind of similarity between what might be happening in Florida and what might be happening in another part of the world?

POWELL: Absolutely. There are well funded, resource groups. Unfortunately, sometimes religious groups here in the United States and other parts of the world that are funding these legislations. Sometimes they’re copycat law, they’re going from state to state and also, from country to country. And so, there’s a blueprint, a playbook, on anti-LGBTQI plus and anti-trans laws that are being passed around and funded from country to country, which is driving the legislation. And we’re also seeing that same movement happen overseas. There is — it’s not a coincidence that this is happening.

SREENIVASAN: So, I’m looking at your report here, and the top 10 countries of requests, number one is Afghanistan. Is this result of the Taliban taking over?

POWELL: Absolutely. You know, very difficult to relocate people in Afghanistan before the fall of Kabul and the takeover of the Taliban. And there was a direct correlation with the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces, the takeover of the Taliban and the evacuation of people that led to the spike of request for assistance. We released another report on Afghanistan. You know, I directly been in neighboring Pakistan more than once to help set up our network. You know, our organization was never — never anticipated us being in the middle of geopolitical crises, but we’re seeing direct — Afghanistan was a real example of a larger geopolitical situation that directly impacted LGBTQ plus people at risk. And so, we had to act, and we have relocated several hundred people from Afghanistan. But with the success of relocation comes an increase in request for assistance, which is documented in the report.

SREENIVASAN: You were in Islamabad helping Afghans leaving that country and coming to Pakistan, what was that like?

POWELL: This is another example of what it is for people to flee from one country of persecution to another neighboring country in order to seek protection. You know, Pakistan also criminalizes the same sex intimacy, although, there are some protections for trans individuals. And so, the troops were motivated by building their partnership and network. One of the challenges with Afghanistan is that civil society organizations and people were fleeing the country. And so, we need to set up as much neighboring networks as possible, and I’m really thankful for our partners on the ground who were mostly advocacy-based organizations, which completely transformed their offices into safe houses while we built a more safe house since system. You know, it’s part of the job that we do to help establish our partnership (INAUDIBLE) in the countries that sometimes aren’t always safe.

SREENIVASAN: The other crisis that is getting a lot of airtime is the war in Ukraine. But often, there are populations inside Ukraine, inside Russia, that are not talked about as much. In your report, you talk about this crisis and what it’s done. How has that war made things worse for the LGBTQ plus populations, I guess, on both sides of this war?

POWELL: Yes. First in Ukraine, you know, the concern was ensuring that LGBTQ people had access to safe havens in neighboring countries. Fortunately, with the conflict, the civil society organizations in neighboring countries really have stepped up to provide support. And we have worked to facilitate the — again, the establishment of those safe houses and resources, so people fleeing Ukraine can get access to those resources. I think there remain challenges, in particular, for transgender women who are facing difficulties leaving the country and, of course, the general instability of Ukraine. There were kind of, you know, incremental advances LGBTQ plus persons in the country, but by far, the country has not have overall protections of LGBTQ plus people. And Russia’s situation was a little more dire. We actually saw more requests in Russia from people who were displaced, but our work in Russia has been continuous since the 2013 anti-LGBTQ propaganda law, and then subsequent republics like Chechnya essentially torturing LGBTQ plus persons. And one of the things that we’re concerned about is while the focus is on Russia’s aggression of Ukraine, the fact of the matter is that the conflict affects LGBTQ plus people in Russia with limited options for evacuation or resettlement.

SREENIVASAN: What are some of the stories that you have heard from these individuals that are either fleeing countries like Afghanistan or Uganda and are looking for a better life, whether it’s in the United States or Europe or elsewhere?

POWELL: You know, I have the kind of honor to kind of meet some of the people that we’ve helped, sometimes on both sides of the journey. And, you know, actually just recently, I was in New York launching our — for our World Refugee Day. And in the room was — were three individuals that we helped. And one that really struck out at me was someone that was from Kenya, actually, who fled to Uganda, believe it or not, which also receives refugees. And so, they were displaced in Kenya, they fled to Uganda, while awaiting our support. And then, with our support, we helped them relocate to the United States. You know, and they spoke about kind of what it was like to have to flee as a human rights defender, because their house was literally burning down. And what it meant for them to have safety and protection in the U.S.

SREENIVASAN: I know you work on advocacy issues and legislation, have there been any successes for your organization and your cause in the climate of increasing anti-trans legislation in the United States?

POWELL: Our advocacy in the United States is guided by a memorandum by the president on the human rights of LGBTQI plus people around the world. And that memorandum stated two important things. One, around enhancing — the U.S. role in enhancing human rights on the world, which we believe means that you also have to, you know, walk the talk by making sure that we’re enhancing human rights in the country.

And then, the second one is protection for our LGBTQI plus refugees. And one real opportunity that we are following right now, which is an advancement is the establishment of a private sponsorship program that will allow citizens across the country to work with Rainbow Railroad to provide support for LGBTQ refugees.

SREENIVASAN: If you had a message for someone who is being discriminated against in their country and are looking for a way out, what is that?

POWELL: Yes. First and foremost, you know, do what you need to do to be safe. I think that’s the first message that we provide with people that reach out to us, sometimes facing real imminent danger. And, you know, that there are people in solidarity with you in your country. Again, organizations like Rainbow Railroad who are trying to do everything that we can to help.

And I would also extend that same message to governments. You know, we reached a historic milestone with the government of Canada, who is partnering with Rainbow Railroad through a direct trusted referral, and we want to do that in the U.S. and other countries as well. Because ultimately, what we really want to tell to that person listening is that we have options for you, but we can’t have options unless governments are stepping up to address the scale of the crisis.

SREENIVASAN: Kimahli Powell, the CEO of the Rainbow Railroad, thanks so much for joining us.

POWELL: Thank you so much for having me.