Shelter set to open in Berlin for LGBT migrants

(22 Feb 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY

AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Berlin - February 22, 2016
1. Entrance to gay advice centre with writing reading (German) 'Berlin homosexual counsel'
2. Pan of banner and flyers reading (German) "Gay refugees need our help" to (English) "Refugees welcome"
3. Wide of presser
4. Journalist taking notes
5. SOUNDBITE (German) Stephan Jaekel, head of the gay refugees department of the Berlin Homosexual Counsel:
"They are refugees like an other refugee, but they are also culturally isolated. And they have experienced a lot of violence. It starts with psychological violence, we had men who were spat upon for weeks by their roommates, interpreters who refused to translate when faced with homosexuality or trans sexuality. And it goes to appraising, deprecatory discrimination up to physical violence with broken arms, broken noses, up to murder attempts."
6. Flyer reading (English) 'Refugee LGBTI conference' (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex)
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mahmoud Hassino, gay refugee from Syria:
"Just somebody coming to me and telling me that 'I'm afraid that somebody around me is going to find out that I am an homosexual or a trans person,' this is enough for me, actually. This is an enough example for me, because I know how difficult it is. I know because you are supposed to be protected, but you are under international law and there is little that can be done while you are an asylum seeker. So it's a lot of fear, it's too much for an individual to handle after this long trip."
8. Workers bringing lockers into house that will host LGBT refugees
9. Worker moving bed frame into room
10. Pan left from freshly painted table to bed frame
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mahmoud Hassino, gay refugee from Syria:
"For me, I always thought that this is a very important project, the 'Heim', the shelter for LGBT refugees. There are other things that an asylum seeker might need, and they might not be available, they might not be accessible for them in other shelters because they might be afraid of talking, speaking out about their asylum process."
12. Close of flyers welcoming LGBT refugees
13. Pan left from kitchen to dining room
14. Wide of volunteer painting chair
15. Close of chair being painted red
STORYLINE
Gay rights group Schwulenberatung Berlin is opening a new home with 122 beds for gay refugees in cooperation with the city of Berlin.
The centre will be opened on Tuesday, and comes on the heels of another shelter with 10 beds which was recently opened in Nuremberg.
Schwulenberatung Berlin's Mahmoud Hassino, a gay refugee from Syria, said the new Berlin shelter would be a big improvement for gay, transgender and lesbian refugees who have suffered abuse.
Berlin has also appointed a counsellor as contact person for the registration of gay and transgender migrants.
Across Europe, gay, lesbian and transgender migrants say they experienced verbal, physical and sexual abuse in refugee shelters, and some have been forced to move out.
"It's a lot of fear, it's too much for an individual to handle after this long trip," said the 40-year-old Hassino.
Hassino came to Germany in 2014 and had to move out of a Berlin shelter himself because of the hostility of fellow refugees.
The situation for homosexual refugees is difficult all over Europe.
The AP found out about scores of documented cases in The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, with the abuse usually coming from fellow refugees and sometimes security staff and translators.
The cases suggest a possible cultural clash: Many migrants are coming from conservative Muslim countries where homosexuality is taboo into European societies that are more open to it.


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