Spanish Supreme Court Expands Rights for LGBT+ Asylum Seekers in Ceuta and Melilla

Welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision, the Kifkif organization demanded on Thursday the "immediate" transfer of more than 120 LGBT+ asylum seekers currently in the Temporary Stay Centers for Immigrants (CETI) in the two cities.

For the Kifkif organization, this is a "historic decision and hope for the future of international protection for LGBT+ people in Spain" and puts asylum seekers in Ceuta and Melilla on an equal footing with those in the rest of Spain.

"This is a decision that comes after years of struggle by social organizations against the ban on movement that asylum seekers have been victims of and which has deprived them of freedom of movement," adds Samir Bargach, the president of Kifkif.

It should be recalled that the LGBT+ asylum seekers in the CETI of Ceuta and Melilla, while awaiting the admission of their protection applications, live in isolation, persecuted, with the fear of seeing their applications rejected and are often victims of aggression from other residents of the center.