The difficult path towards the recognition of refugee status based on sexual orientation and gender identity : analysing Brazil and the United Kingdom

Abstract

The situation of some LGBT people is of oppression. In some countries, they are at risk of suffer even death penalty. Thus, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) is very important. However, as the Convention does not mention the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, it has generated different interpretations. Moreover, the researches have been focus on few countries. In the South American States, such as Brazil, have little information about it, even though recently the asylum seekers have highly increased. The objective of this thesis is to identify what are the main obstacles for the recognition of a refugee status based on these grounds and why there is no standard between the States. Such analysis is relevant to contribute to the better acknowledge of the LGBT asylum seekers vulnerability. The research is based on legal and political aspects. The selected countries are the United Kingdom and Brazil. I conclude that besides the legal weakness and lack of guidelines, the link to the refugee‟s policies, are relevant to comprehend the denial or the recognition of the refugee status for LGBT people.