Is there a legal way to flee?
It sounds so reasonable. Stop illegal migration. Help refugees in their own region. Let people apply the proper way.
But what does the proper way actually look like? Let us tell you about three people we know.
Georgina was born intersex in Egypt. Labelled a boy at birth, with characteristics of both sexes, she faced not only medical challenges but a society that had no place for her. She was abused by her father and uncles, called up to serve in the army as a young man, and threatened with death by her own family. So she fled. Legally.
Her Egyptian passport only gets her into countries that have no asylum procedure. Countries where a woman carrying a passport that says she’s a man is not exactly welcomed with open arms. For two years now, she has moved to a new country every three months on a tourist visa. Her application for refugee status with the UNHCR, and resettlement to a safe country, will take years. In the meantime she is not allowed to work. She won’t beg, and she refuses to sell her body. That leaves donations.
Ilham fled Afghanistan before the Taliban took over, escaping a father who could not accept that his son had left religion. A student visa in Turkey gave him a temporary way out, and a few sponsors pay for his studies and housing. He has been hoping for a visa to the United States, because he worked for years as an interpreter for the Americans. But the Trump administration halted those procedures. When his student visa expires, he will be sent back to Afghanistan, where both his father and the Taliban now want him dead. Or he stays in Turkey without papers.
Shouq and Amna are two lesbian women who each fled Sudan and found each other in Egypt. When Amna moved in with Shouq, her family turned on her. They kidnapped her and are holding her at home, apparently planning to send her back to Sudan and marry her off to erase the “shame”. How safe do you think Egypt is for LGBTQ people? Amna can expect no protection from the authorities. Even as an adult woman, she is not allowed to decide her own fate. We hope she finds a way out and can return to Shouq. Their UNHCR case is in progress too. That means years of waiting, with no right to work, in a hostile society.
This is what “the legal way” means
It means waiting. Not weeks or months, but years. And all that time, people need a roof, food and medicine.
That’s why we don’t do one-off rescues. We give long-term support to people who chose the legal route, for as long as it takes. Right now, Freethinkers International keeps around ten people going this way. With more sponsors, we can help more.
Can you spare €5 or $5 a month?
That’s less than a cup of coffee a week. Because waiting lasts so long, a small amount every month helps far more than a single large gift. It lets us promise someone that we’ll still be there next month, and the month after.
Thank you for standing with people who did everything right, and are still waiting for the world to do the same.
The Freethinkers International team
