Refugee Resettlement: A Protection Tool for LGBTI Refugees

Abstract

Refugee resettlement is an exceptional tool to protect the world’s most vulnerable refugees who, despite having fled their country of origin and receiving recognition as a refugee in the country of asylum, are unable to live in safety or to access human rights. This chapter asks how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and states can provide protection to vulnerable lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees and argues that the global resettlement system is an essential tool for their protection. The chapter first discusses the protection needs of LGBTI refugees in their countries of asylum, with a focus on Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, including ongoing fear of persecution in the country of asylum, lack of state protection, and lack of familial or social support. Second, it examines refugee resettlement as a protection tool offering LGBTI refugees access to protection and human rights. The chapter then narrates the process of refugee resettlement through the United Nations and resettlement states, addresses the limitations that prevent the global resettlement system from protecting more LGBTI refugees, and provides recommendations to UNHCR and governments to improve resettlement as a protection tool.