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After the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the British government promised to take in those who had helped British troops during the war, and those most vulnerable to persecution.
But many of those most at risk, including “thousands” of LGBT+ Afghans, are being left behind, according to Nemat Sadat, executive director of the LGBT+ charity Roshaniya.
“There’s really no future for LGBT+ people in Afghanistan,” Sadat said in an interview with Niall Paterson on the Sky News Daily podcast in 2013 after facing hostility over his sexual orientation. leave Afghanistan.
Homosexuality is currently illegal under Sharia law in Afghanistan, and transgender people are not recognized by the state. The punishment for homosexuality is death.
“This is probably the worst place for LGBT+ people. Under Taliban rule, under Sharia law, the Taliban continued to trap LGBT+ people. Once they found LGBT+ people, they tortured them,” Sadat continued .
“They told us that if you want to end this torture, you have to basically show us your entire network of LGBT+ people, give us their names, give us their contact information so we can track and find them.”
One gay man still in Afghanistan is 23-year-old Arseen. We changed his name to protect his identity.
He told Sky News Daily: “I’m running away from my own family right now because my uncles, who are religious leaders, beat me up.”
He described how at least he could move on with his life despite Afghanistan’s previous hostility to the LGBT+ community. Now, Arseen has been hiding after losing her job and college placement for fear of being exposed. “I lost hope for my future. The Taliban, they destroyed every opportunity [of one]”
Both Arseen and Sadat accused the UK government of not doing enough to support and protect LGBT+ Afghans.
One of the schemes to help resettle Afghans in the UK following the Taliban takeover is the Afghan Citizenship Resettlement Scheme. Priority groups for the program include LGBT+ people.
Sky News Daily asked the Home Office, which is in charge of the scheme, to respond. It directed Sky News to the Foreign Office.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “Since the fall of Kabul, the UK was one of the first countries to offer safe relocation routes for at-risk LGBT+ Afghans. Many are already in the UK, while some have relocated to other safe countries or are in the process of relocating. Third country processed for relocation to the UK. We will continue to do what we can to help LGBT+ Afghans at risk.”
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Producers: Soila Apparicio and Anne-Marie Bullock
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