The Height of Homophobia in the Netherlands!

The Height of Homophobia in the Netherlands!

A Nigerian Lesbian “Happy” was poured boiling water in asylum seekers' center: 

'Maybe the Netherlands is not safe enough'

It is so sad that we flee our homophobic countries in search of safety, acceptance and freedom only to meet our worse nightmares. The countries we consider safe havens have been compromised by homophobic, violent and barbaric asylum seekers whom also fled their countries of origin for different reasons only to claim they are homosexuals just to get resident papers. I urge the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), Asylum seekers organization, LGBTQI organizations and Volunteers to do more in-depth and thorough background checks as over 70% of asylum seekers whom claim to be gay are actually homophobic migrants using homosexuality as excuse. And I advise these perpetrators to use other reasons as there are many other reasons why you could be in danger in the regions you come from. It is so sad that people with the real stories and experience do not get a chance to really find safety and the freedom they seek for…. Kayode Gomes

The lesbian asylum seeker ‘Happy’ still can not believe what terrible suffering was done to her in early August. In an asylum seekers' center in the Netherlands she was poured boiling hot water. According to Happy, it also took far too long for her to receive proper medical attention. 

The Nigerian Lady tells her story ….

The incident happened on the night of Sunday 2 to Monday 3 August. Happy visited her friend Esther in an AZC in Gilze, Happy herself lives in another AZC. When Esther walks out after receiving a message, Happy realizes that something is wrong. She sees a man arguing with her girlfriend. “Security tried to take them apart,” Happy recalls. "But the man was too strong." Happy manages to convince her friend to let it go and to report it the next morning. When they walk back to their room, things go wrong again. The man beats up Esther while holding her baby on the arm. “At that moment we were brought out by security,” Happy tells Hart van Nederland. "Security was there all through." When Happy turns around, she sees a woman approaching with a bowl of boiling hot water. Happy did not hesitate for a moment and jumped between them, so the hot water got on her while she protected her girlfriend and the few month old baby.

"I could not believe it. It happened very quickly. The moment the water hit me, my skin came off, ”she continues. Despite everything, Happy does not regret her action. "Me and my girlfriend can survive this, but the baby can't." Happy and Esther have a really hard time with what happened. “I don't sleep at night. I cannot believe that this happened to me in the Netherlands ”, Happy tells with emotion. This is why we fled our own country Nigeria. Maybe the Netherlands is not safe enough.”

Esther has sought psychological help. She walks around feeling guilty. “I feel guilty that this happened to her. She shouldn't have to go through all that pain for me, ”she says. That night Esther received very nasty curses and threats at her head and found it incomprehensible that the couple also seemed to be after her child. “Why are you doing it when I'm with my child?” She says with tears in her eyes. The drama had a major impact on her son. He cried out that night and he hasn't eaten properly ever since.

The two women have doubts about the actions of the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers) in the evening in question. According to Happy, the security guard asked many questions because she does not live in the AZC in Gilze, so it took a long time before she received the right help. "It felt like my body was on fire by now, I think my injuries are worse than necessary," Happy continues. "If I had received the right help on time, it would have been less bad." Once she saw a doctor, she was immediately sent to the hospital: "It took quite a while before there was transport to the hospital." The COA informs Hart van Nederland that it immediately provided first aid to Happy and took her to the GP post.

LGBT Asylum Support organizes a card campaign for the injured lesbian to support her.

They also want to draw attention to violence by other LGBTI + people in asylum seekers' centers.

A 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman (Perpetrators), both from Nigeria, were arrested for the incident.

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