{"id":12422,"date":"2024-06-10T19:26:27","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T17:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=12422"},"modified":"2024-06-12T20:43:27","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:43:27","slug":"seeking-safety-georgian-lgbtq-refugees-find-hope-in-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/12422\/seeking-safety-georgian-lgbtq-refugees-find-hope-in-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking Safety: Georgian LGBTQ+ Refugees Find Hope in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\u201cBelgium saved me. Before I came to Brussels, I was constantly in self-preservation mode\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>says Georgian transgender Katalina Jorjeuli (37) on an outside terrace \u2013 enjoying the sun. The number of Georgian refugees in Belgium has doubled since the Georgian government has intensified its nationalism and discrimination, particularly against the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons(CGRS),<\/a> Georgia ranks eighth among the top countries whose residents applied for asylum in Belgium as of March 2024, with 79 applicants in that month alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I am thankful for this country. I do not think I could ever repay Belgium for what it has done for me. I am safe and alive now\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 mentions Georgian queer man Lukas Ablotia (19), who has been out of the closet for three years now, reaching for his cup of coffee, covering his face from the sun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Everything here is different. I am not afraid. This is where they take me as I am.”<\/strong> Recalling the times Jorjeuli had to remind society that she could express herself as she wished, she mentions, “Here they ask me who I am, not what my parents named me. I am Kato, and I am a woman.”<\/strong> According to Rainbow house\u2019s data map, Belgium has a human rights and equality index of 78%, which sets the country on the top three countries list, while Georgia scores only 25%, with a place of 36 out of 48.<\/p>\n\n\t\t