Exceptional encounters : sexual orientation, gender identity and the Belgian asylum system

In Belgium, around 4% of persons applying for international protection do so for fearing persecution on the ground of their sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). While the migration regime is becoming increasingly stricter, an exceptional opening appears to be created for SOGI refugees, whose identities and values supposedly correspond with and confirm Belgium as an LGBTIQ+ friendly nation. However, the asylum system was not designed to receive SOGI applicants, as reception centres are organised along binary lines, and asylum applications are more easily assessed if there is factual and physical evidence. Instead of the freedom they expected to find in Belgium, SOGI applicants are confronted with a bureaucratic labyrinth, where different expressions and articulations of their SOGI lead them down divergent paths, characterised by differing degrees of isolation and support and varying asylum outcomes. This thesis traces the trajectory of SOGI applicants throughout the Belgian asylum system. Notably, these trajectories encompass more than a series of interviews and legal procedures. At one point along the way, all the SOGI participants of this research arrived at an LGBTIQ+ support organisation in Brussels, which is where I met them. They came to the organisation to find people to talk to and prepare their asylum interview with, often directed there by a social assistant from the arrival or reception centre where they were accommodated. By broadening the perspective to consider SOGI applicants’ entire process – from their accommodation to their preparation and eventual examination of their asylum claim – this research brings into focus the various actors who are a part of this process, working within, alongside or against the asylum apparatus. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and in-depth interviews, the findings show how SOGI applicants’ trajectories are impacted by the places and people they encounter along the way, just as these exceptional encounters leave an impact on their interlocutors. As such, the research highlights how the applicants’ (expression of their) sexual orientation and gender identity is (re)shaped by the different discourses, expectations, practices and emotions that characterise their encounters. Moreover, it offers insight into how even those trying to provide support, (re)produce some of the exclusionary mechanisms of the asylum system.