It's essential that Canadian authorities increase the country’s resettlement quota for queer asylum claimants

Led by academics in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Sussex and funded by the ESRC, ‘Negotiating Queer Identities Following Forced Migration’ (NQIfFM) is a three-year project exploring the experiences of people who have left Iran to escape persecution or discrimination on grounds of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics. In particular, it looks at the processes of identity transition of queer Iranians in exile in countries generally seen as being of transition, destination or resettlement - Turkey, the UK and Canada.

The work, now in its final year and being carried out by Nuno Ferreira, Professor of Law, Dr Moira Dustin, Assistant Professor in Law, and Dr Kamran Matin, Reader in International Relations, among others, is helping develop concepts of postcolonial sexual identity, augment life histories of exile, explore trauma-based cultural politics, consider more carefully creative methods, and make a nuanced contribution to emerging queer studies of migration, transnationalism and exile.

See a documentary on YouTube about the project

See the powerful poetry collection, ‘Rainbows on Rugged Terrains’

Read the journal article in Sexuality & Culture, ‘Putting People in Boxes: Iranian Exiles and Queer Identities’ by Dr Moira Dustin.

A short summary of findings:

• The resettlement process of Iranian queer refugees from Turkey to Canada is hampered by a lack of funding, forcing many refugees to rely on private sponsorship schemes involving lengthy periods required for fund-raising. 
• Following resettlement to Canada, queer Iranian refugees often experience discrimination during the induction period and in dealing with authorities. 
• Queer Iranians receive insufficient support, inadequate accommodation and lack of information upon arrival in Canada, as well as language and citizenship education in environments that are not always queer-friendly. Educators in these settings often lack sufficient knowledge of queer issues and the conditions faced by queer people in Iran.

Professor Ferreira said:

"Many Iranians leaving Iran to escape persecution first escape to Turkey, where the situation is extremely hostile to refugees and LGBTIQ+ people. They often try to resettle to other countries - like Canada and the UK - but as waiting times have increased considerably over the last few years, they are forced to linger far longer in Turkey in terrible conditions. Once they finally reach Canada, their situation is often still very difficult because funding and services are insufficient and inadequate.

“It's essential that Canadian authorities increase the country’s resettlement quota for queer asylum claimants to help alleviate the bottleneck in Turkey, and also address the quality of initial accommodations – and offer it for longer periods. Resettlement support, including English language education in a queer-friendly environment with appropriately aware educators, must be made available as well."