Two Russian couples had to leave Ter Apel this week for security reasons. It concerns a Russian non-binary and a lesbian couple, says LGBT Asylum Support, an organization that assists LGBTI asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The two couples said they were discriminated against and faced homophobic and pro-Putin comments by fellow residents.
Last Tuesday, the Russians experienced a low point when they were confronted with a large ‘Z’ on the facade of their residence in the asylum seekers’ center. The letter has quickly become a pro-Russian symbol among Russian soldiers in Ukraine and supporters of the war. In Germany, individuals displaying the letter Z as a symbol of support for Russia may soon face criminal charges. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) confirms that the letter has been painted on the wall and says it has since been removed. The COA also confirms that people who felt threatened by the expression have been transferred to another location.
The two Russian couples in Ter Apel are very shocked by what happened to them. “The impact on both couples is enormous, because they are asking for protection here as LGBT asylum seekers, but also because of the war in Ukraine,” reports Sandro Kortekaas of LGBT Asylum Support. “We have now informed the mayor about the situation. We really see this as something very serious.”
‘We were very scared’
Both Russian couples applied for asylum at Schiphol in April, because of the increasing repression and persecution of LGBT people in Russia. After a transfer arranged by the COA from Schiphol to Ter Apel, both couples were placed with Russian-speaking asylum seekers. There they kept a low profile, but despite this, they say they got everything thrown at them, with the Z symbol as the low point.
“We were very scared because people wearing this Z symbol are currently killing people in Ukraine,” said one of the couples. “We also know that many Russians stay in this reception location, but they don’t have a ‘Z’ next to their front door. We also don’t know why or who did this. That gives a feeling of powerlessness. This causes us a lot of stress because we fled Russia for this very reason and it is now happening again.”
unacceptable
According to Children’s Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer, the situation in the Ter Apel application center is unacceptable, especially for children. Underage refugees are ‘mentally neglected’ in the application centre, Kalverboer tells NRC† Children without parents stay there for a longer period of time without any form of daytime activities, help or attention. According to the Ombudsman for Children, the refugee children leave the center with more trauma than they enter.
The Ombudsman for Children paid a visit to Ter Apel this week, after the mayor of Groningen Koen Schuiling warned about the living conditions in the application center last weekend. “Unworthy of a civilized country”, he called the fate of asylum seekers and status holders in Ter Apel.
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