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The Refugee Status Determination of Transgender Asylum- Seekers: a Queer Critique

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The Refugee Status Determination of Transgender Asylum- Seekers: a Queer Critique GLOBAL MIGRATION RESEARCH PAPER N°24│2020 The Refugee Status Determination of Transgender Asylum- Seekers: a Queer Critique Irene Manganini Irene Manganini The Refugee Status Determination of Transgender Asylum-Seekers: a Queer Critique ISBN The Global Migration Research Paper Series – N° 978-2-8399-2956-1, 2020 The Global Migration Research Paper Series (ISSN 2296-9810) is published by the Global Migration Centre (GMC). Located in Geneva, the world capital of migration, the GMC offers a unique interface between academia and the international community. The GMC conducts advanced research, policy- relevant expertise and training on the causes, patterns and consequences of global migration.. Email: [email protected] Website: http://graduateinstitute.ch/globalmigration The views expressed in the Global Migration Research Paper Series are those of the author and do not represent the views of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. © Global Migration Centre Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies i Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR Irene Manganini holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Sciences and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste and a Master’s degree in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva. After having been an intern with IOM Croatia and a consultant with IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina, Irene is currently working on the Project Development Unit in IOM Bangladesh and assisting the COVID-19 Emergency Response project. She has also been a volunteer with different activist groups giving aid to migrants and refugees stranded along the Balkan route as well as legal assistant with the NGO European Lawyers in Lesvos. ii Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 ABSTRACT This publication results from the master’s dissertation written by Irene Manganini under the supervision of Prof. Vincent Chetail (Master in international law, Graduate Institute). In 2019, it received the prestigious Award Ladislas Mysyrowicz for its high quality dissertation dedicated to the issue of refugees. This research deals with the topic of transgender asylum-seekers and specifically with their refugee status determination process. It aims at finding out if and in which way a queer critical framework could help explain the shortcomings and misunderstandings which often arise during said process. After analysing the main controversial legal and practical issues occurring during transgender asylum-seekers refugee status determination processes, it argues that a good insight into the reason why these issues arise can be found in the queer concept of hierarchies of power, and in the ways they underlie and shape the whole asylum system. Building on that, the research finally argues that these narratives cannot be subverted by simply modernising refugee law but that it is rather the whole conceptual foundations of the asylum system that need to change and that transgender asylum-seekers’ experiences could help in showing the way forward. Keywords: migration, refugee status determination, transgender, queer theories, international asylum law iii Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To those who fled and never arrived. To those who arrived and were rejected. To those who could not flee. And to Prof. Mysyrowicz. iv Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7 i. Why this research? ......................................................................................................... 7 ii. What does “transgender” even mean? ........................................................................... 8 iii. A numerical overview .................................................................................................. 12 1. The Legal Framework for Protection ........................................................................... 15 1.1 The UNHCR .............................................................................................................. 16 1.2 Human rights law and the prohibition of refoulement.................................................. 18 1.3 Contribution from civil society .................................................................................... 20 2. Refugee Status Determination ..................................................................................... 22 2.1 Well-founded fear ....................................................................................................... 23 2.1.1 Concealment .................................................................................................... 24 2.1.2 Country of origin information ............................................................................. 27 2.1.3 Late disclosure (sur place claims) .................................................................... 28 2.2 Persecution ................................................................................................................ 29 2.2.1 Criminalisation ................................................................................................. 34 2.3 The causal link ........................................................................................................... 37 2.4 Membership of a particular social group ..................................................................... 40 2.4.1 Credibility ........................................................................................................ 45 2.5 State protection .......................................................................................................... 48 2.5.1 Internal relocation alternative .......................................................................... 49 3. Analysis from a Queer Theory Perspective ................................................................. 51 3.1 Queer theories: a useful tool ...................................................................................... 51 3.2 The narratives of Power ............................................................................................. 52 3.2.1 The gender binary as Power ............................................................................ 52 3.2.2 The Western cultural stereotype as Power ...................................................... 55 3.2.3 The border as Power ....................................................................................... 58 Conclusion: Queering International (Refugee) Law ....................................................... 61 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 65 5 Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 ABBREVIATIONS CAT (UN) Committee against Torture CEAS Common European Asylum System CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women COI Country of origin information DSSH Difference, Stigma, Shame and Harm ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR European Court of Human Rights ECJ European Court of Justice EDAL European Database of Asylum Law ExCom Executive Committee EU European Union FRA European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights FtM Female to Male ICD International Classification of Diseases ICJ International Commission of Jurists ILGA International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association INS Immigration and Naturalization Service (US) IOM International Organization for Migration LGBT(IQ/+) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer (M)PSG (Membership of a) particular social group MtF Male to Female RSD Refugee Status Determination SOGI(ESC) Sexual orientation, gender identity expression and sex characteristics TGEU Transgender Europe UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNGA United Nations General Assembly UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees US(A) United States of America WHO World Health Organisation YP Yogyakarta Principles 6 Global Migration Research Paper – 2020 │N° 24 INTRODUCTION i. Why this research? Transgender asylum-seekers are individuals finding themselves at the intersection of two challenging life conditions: that of being transgender in a world that does not seem to understand and accept this identity quite yet on one side, and that of looking for asylum in a foreign country because of one’s fear for one’s own life on the other. This peculiar condition of vulnerability and the relevance that further analysis and investigation on the topic could constitute for many different fields of study is to date profoundly underestimated. In the legal field, for instance, only few authors are dealing with this issue, or at least with this issue specifically: while quite a big number of legal scholars are conducting research into various aspects related to the situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) asylum-seekers and refugees,1 very few are actually addressing the “T” aspect in detail.2 Yet, the chances that this subject offers to explore the links and possible reciprocal influences that queer studies and international refugee law could exercise on each other are quite evident, and the feeling is that such a complex topic should be regarded by international refugee law scholars as a tool for the discipline to develop and change, thus to stay modern. At the same time, it should never be forgotten
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