Legal Information Session
The information session on COVID-19 and queer asylum discussed the legal challenges LGBTQI+ refugees face from the perspectives of lawyers and NGOs. This session focuses, amongst others, on how COVID-19 affects claimants access to the courts and to legal support (lawyers, NGOs etc.) You find a good overview of LGBTI asylum law in Germany, including a short summary of the challenges COVID-19 poses for LGBTI asylum cases here.
Moderator:
Philipp Braun, currently works as a volunteer for LSVD with LGBTI refugees in Germany – previously he had served as an LSVD and ILGA-Europe board member. From 2006 to 2008 he also served as Co-Secretary General of ILGA – the global LGBTI federation with currently over 1600 member organisations from 146 UN member states. In March 2020 Asyl Magazin published a comment he co-authored on the landmark decisions by the German Constitutional Court in December 2019 and January 2020 on LGBTI refugees.
Panelists:
Jonathan Leuschner is an immigration lawyer based in Frankfurt/Germany. Jonathan studied law in Cologne and Fribourg/Switzerland and gained practical experience in Brussels and São Paulo. His work focuses on family reunification and asylum law, in particular the legal support of unaccompanied minors and the LGBTQI+ community.”
Alva Träbert is a feminist sociologist and gender historian. Her work focuses on queer identities and queer belonging, gender-based violence, anti-queer/anti-trans discrimination and complex social inequality. She is currently the head of a state-wide training program in North Rhine-Westphalia supporting refugee camp management and staff in implementing violence protection measures for queer and trans occupants. She also provides counselling and advocacy for refugees claiming asylum based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
