Enough, really was enough!
Our escape from Kakuma refugee camp happened a while back (early in 2024). This may help explain our change of location. We regret not taking photos, but in reality, it was too risky.
Until then, Kakuma refugee camp had been our ‘home’ since we individually fled our homeland five years ago and counting.
A ‘home’ that was toxic, dirty, degrading and dangerously homo/trans phobic. Appreciating that arriving there likely saved us from the horrors we ran from, it was close to jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
From the first few weeks after arriving at the UN camp, we were hated with a vengeance. Other camp residents, local police, medical staff and even some officials treated us as scum.
We were forced to endure frequent verbal and physical attacks from other camp residents. Violence caused many injuries, and a few LGBTQ people died.
Collectively, we were denied access to many facilities in camp, and ran the gauntlet every time we went to collect water, rations, or kick a ball about. The women were fearful of attack and rape, and other children were hostile to our own.
There weren’t just a few of us. Hundreds of LGBTQ+ folks were living there when we arrived. Prejudice and physical attacks had already been reported online by credible sources like Amnesty International and Rainbow Railroad.
LGBTQ+ phobia in Africa and beyond
But then Kakuma is part of Kenya. Kenya is just one African country that encourages its citizens to attack, maim and kill people born as we were.
We also know we are not alone. Such phobias are endemic within many global societies. In these countries, government rhetoric is designed to match what some sections of society find easier to believe.
It creates a false fear, and beliefs in myths, imaginations of gross acts of sexual deviance, far removed from reality, and a social ignorance of the ways of nature.
In the twenty-first century, it is sad that many heterosexual people firmly believe they chose to be straight. Tell them that innate instincts steer many aspects of an individual, and they’ll dismiss them without thought, consideration, or logical reasoning.
Suggest sexuality isn’t a choice anyone can make, and some laugh in your face, with a stone-age knee-jerk reaction to anything they deem to be a threat or unfamiliar.
The First to ‘Escape’
Our brave colleague, Anna, and her young son, Raymond, were the first to risk leaving Kakuma. They took the bus, focusing on their intended destination, and prepared for what might happen.
There were plenty of risks, especially when entering South Sudan. One might ask who in their right mind would want to travel through the country, let alone live there. War, strife, and conflict had already displaced many of its citizens.
Despite millions in aid from around the world, sanctions imposed by many countries, and continuing ethnic conflict, the entire country remains unstable. Living essentials are more expensive in South Sudan than in neighbouring countries.
But Anna had her ear to the ground, tipped off by a friendly contact. Apparently, good things were happening for LGBTQ+ people in the UN camp in South Sudan, with a credible resettlement programme unfolding for many.
What Anna found confirmed the tip-off, even though she wasn’t impressed with the camp facilities. She fed her findings back to us in Kakuma, putting the wheels in motion for all of us in our group to follow her.
Our treacherous journey
We went in groups, staggering our departure to avoid being obvious. It was too conspicuous to use the bus, so we paid lorry drivers, courier taxis and someone who arranges such things with funds donated for the purpose. It wasn’t plain sailing.
The first to make the journey were left stranded for 12 hours. They also spent hours in a car boot out of sight, and scraped through a police check thanks to the driver, who was familiar to the officers. Our final lap was a dusty passenger ride on motorbike taxis.
We arrived exhausted, hungry and dirty. Over a period of weeks, everyone, including the children, travelled a similar route and faced the potential for being stopped and sent back, or becoming victims of corruption, blackmail, or something far worse.
All arrived safely and without undue incident.
Read more about how and why we each ended up in Kakuma Refugee Camp: Our individual stories.
