A Serbian gay couple seeking asylum in Germany have barely survived a vicious attack at the refugee camp where they were living.
The incident was revealed in a Facebook post by Javid Nabiyev on the Queer Refugees Pride page. The men were beaten last week and ‘were almost dead’ when they arrived to hospital.
Nabiyev and the Queer Refugees Pride team debated posting a video about what happened. But they decided to not only post a report on the event but video of the men’s injuries.
The married men arrived to hospital after the attack and can be seen covered in blood. One of the men will need surgery for his injuries.
They were attacked in the refugee camp where they were staying, even though they had tried to hide the fact they were gay.
‘How many people should face this kind of attack, to make all of you believe, to convince all of you, that our situation is urgent?’ Nabiyev said in the video.
‘What happened yesterday is happening all over the place.
‘If this person was a German citizen would police react the same way?’
Nabiyev had tried to have the men moved to a more tolerant refugee camp but was denied. They were told they need to have a ‘good reason’ to be moved.
‘To make officials to believe and to prove the urgency of the situation they needed to face attack,’ he said in the video.
‘They don’t want to believe when they complain about the situation in a verbal way.’
Nowhere is safe
The names and location of the men were kept private for their safety. But also because authorities have said the men will have to return to the refugee where they were attacked.
‘Every time we say queer people, refugees need protection, special shelters, because we are also members of this particular group by the refugee convention,’ Nabiyev said.
‘But how the authorities are reacting is, ‘hmm, you are a small group compared to other refugees’.
‘But exactly because of this we need protection.’
