Gay Moroccan Asylum Seeker Faces Homophobia in UK, Seeks LGBT-Only Housing

The 28-year-old man said he did not feel "safe" living alongside men from North Africa and the Middle East after arriving in Cardiff in 2017, reports BBC. He says he is a victim of homophobia and is asking to be housed in a home exclusively for LGBT asylum seekers in Wales. In its response, the Home Office said it has always insisted that housing providers must "take into account all circumstances and any vulnerability".

The young Moroccan lives with a paradox. "I had fled a country that was dangerous for me, because of who I am, and I was placed in an environment that seemed more dangerous to me than the situation I had left," he said. In 2017, he had decided to flee Morocco to settle in the United Kingdom. He ended up in Cardiff, housed with men from a similar culture who, according to him, make homophobic and transphobic remarks.

"I felt so much in danger and vulnerable. I thought I would come here and be able to kiss, but instead I felt very insecure," laments Abderrahim, stressing that reception centers for asylum seekers and refugees were not intended for LGBT people. "They were mainly intended for cisgender people. I felt unwelcome," he added.

The young Moroccan had filed an asylum application in the UK, which had been rejected. He had appealed this decision. Without success. The Home Office asked him to return to Morocco. Knowing that any form of intimacy between people of the same sex - including kissing - is illegal in Morocco and punishable by three years in prison, Abderrahim is fighting to stay in the UK. He intends to file a new asylum application.