Zaatar NGO has started a support group for LGBTQI asylum-seekers and refugees on Zoom. Several of them requested it when meeting with Zaatar’s psychologist, as they often feel really lonely living in shared accommodation (being camps or shelters) with people from their country of origin, therefore they usually do not feel safe at all. They had requested to create a group where they can meet other LGBTQI asylum-seekers, share their experiences and discuss different issues.

Due to the lockdown in Greece these meetings are happening on Zoom and it is going really well, Zaatar explains. These meetings aim to create a safe place where LGBTQI people can meet each other, even being in different places of Greece, and where they can exchange their experience. Thanks to the feedback that Zaatar received from the ongoing participants, they adjust each time the issues of discussion.

During the last meeting, participants identified as their priority to learn more information about the situation in Greece about asylum procedures and LGBTQI rights. There, the group decided to have the two lawyers of Zaatar NGO as guest-speakers in the next Zoom meeting in order to talk about the asylum procedure in Greece. Next weeks, there will be a second part of the meeting talking about the LGBTQI rights in Greece.