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An independent refugee integration event – which was due to be held at Cardiff University was on 19th June- was cancelled after refugee, asylum seeker and LGBTQ+ groups pulled out from the hearing citing concerns over transphobia.

By Oojal Kour. Cover image by Tom Davies

The Commission for Integration of Refugees, an independent commission that aims to improve refugee integration across the UK, was criticised by Welsh LGBTQ+ group Glitter Cymru who said that a senior figure in the organising team had previously been ‘very vocal in espousing a “gender critical” stance’  which they said was “severely damaging” to the LGBTQ community.” 

The individual in question was among 15 signatories who jointly composed an open letter to Cardiff University’s Vice-Chancellor, urging the school to sever its connections with the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, following CEO Nancy Kelly’s remarks stating that trans rights should not be up for debate. 

But the event organised for the Commission faced a growing backlash from refugee and asylum seeking community groups in Wales, such as Glitter Cymru, who strongly appealed to all participating groups to withdraw from the event, stating concerns for the safety and well being of transgender and queer refugees and asylum seekers. 

Their call was backed by Trans Aid Cymru, a support group for trans and non-binary people, Displaced People in Action, and the Welsh Refugee Coalition, who decided to withdraw from the event.

It quickly became untenable and the event was cancelled due to insufficient support from the Welsh refugee community, with the aim to address the issue before rescheduling.

Rania Vamvaka, Glitter Cymru’s co-chair, told voice.wales that Glitter Cymru had received widespread support after speaking out against the event. “I’m really pleased and proud that the Welsh refugee sector and the LGBTQ+ sector has rallied behind Glitter, and have showed us their support. This means that we are doing something right and are standing up for what’s right… It showed to everyone that the community in Wales stands for trans rights.”

She further emphasised that the Commission was surprised by the backlash they faced in Wales, and were still grappling with the situation. 

“Wales is coming together behind trans refugees and asylum seekers, the refugee sector is coming together with a unified voice. They were not expecting that. Wales will not allow gender critical voices and gender critical groups to harm trans refugees and asylum seekers anymore.”

Trans and gender nonconforming refugees and asylum seekers are the most vulnerable and marginalised of all groups, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It states that when queer asylum seekers try to seek protection in what they hope is a safer environment, the outcome they are often forced to face is an effort to render them invisible. 

Some of these efforts include having people in positions of authority that can negatively impact the lives of trans refugees, whose lives are always at risk, said Rania. 

“We cannot deny that, even within Glitter, we have people who have taken their lives, who continuously harm themselves…[Transphobia] hurts and kills trans refugees and asylum seekers. We cannot hide from that. We are talking about people’s lives here.”

Rudy Harries, co-founder of Trans Aid Cymru, told voice.wales that gender critical groups believe that  “trans people are not to be trusted to speak about their experiences.”, and says that many see trans people as pathological liars, deviants or attention seekers. 

Rudy said that these stereotypes and ideologies are dangerous when it comes to refugee commissions collecting and evidencing the lived experiences of trans refugees. 

“It’s like having an anti-vaxxer in charge of a COVID inquiry. They’re not capable of listening to trans people with any kind of empathy. The whole point of this is to improve outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers, and you’re doing the exact same thing that prevents them from reaching those good outcomes in the first place.”

“We can’t trust them to deliver, it’s a matter of competency.”

Another safeguarding concern that Rania has is how a lack of emotional empathy would affect what lived experiences of the asylum seekers and refugees are considered versus what is disregarded.

“Surely, if you put myself and a gender critical panellist within the same room, we will have completely different perspectives of what’s important and what should be reported on. So the question here is the integrity of those reports that they produce.”

Rudy found it “encouraging” to see many refugee organisations, who are not necessarily LGBTQ+ but which have witnessed  first hand the plight of trans and queer asylum seekers, pull out of the event on principle. 

“There’s so much more unity behind queer asylum seekers and refugees that just wasn’t there before. It’s really good to see. Hopefully that energy spreads into England as well,” Rudy said. 

But there’s a long way to go for the UK to even be considered trans-friendly, let alone a safe space for them. In January, the Tories tore apart Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform, which would have made it easier for trans people to change their gender assigned at birth. 

Not only that, an Ipsos LGBT+ Pride 2023 survey found that the British are among the least supportive of trans people from a total of 30 countries, with a majority of people agreeing that discrimination is rife but also having a mixed response to supporting gender-affirming care.

This differing thought process makes it difficult to establish the legitimacy of grassroots queer organising. According to Rudy, running community groups like Trans Aid Cymru is hard, because you have to fight against an entire system with only a few people on your side. 

They said, “You could work like a dog every day of your life, and it’s still not enough, because you’re a group of ten people against a very well established and impenetrable system. And obviously, as transphobia whips up around the world, there are going to be more and more trans and non binary asylum seekers. And it is quite scary to face.”

Rania hopes organisations like the Commission for Integration of Refugees will take trans rights more seriously in future. 

She adds, “What I would really like to see going forward is a meeting with a group of LGBTQ+ organisations and a group of representatives from the refugee sector in Wales.”

The Commission for Integration of Refugees said:  

“The Commission on the Integration of Refugees aims to improve the integration of refugees and strives for a society where everyone, including refugees and people seeking sanctuary, feels welcome and part of a strong, cohesive community. Our priority is to ensure meaningful contributions and open sharing to inform our work and to develop recommendations that have genuine impact.”

“We invited people to the hearing in Cardiff to talk about sensitive and highly personal issues and it has become clear that we cannot do this in a way that preserves their confidentiality and the safety of all involved.” 

“Regrettably, we have taken the difficult decision that holding a hearing in Cardiff at this time may undermine our aim to learn from a wide range of contributors and therefore it will not go ahead on Monday [26th June]. The Commission remains committed to hearing from people in Wales and is postponing this consultation until we have explored the best way to achieve this.”