While there has been reference made to source countries and the procedure that we have had in the past in our immigration legislation, we're actually talking about vulnerable groups being identified regardless of the country, rather than having country-wide blankets, so that folks are able to make applications and have those applications processed in their home countries.
Every day I receive emails from members of our community from several of the 73 countries that criminalize sexual and gender minorities, including the 10 that have the death penalty. While the majority of LGBT refugees are not in inaccessible places geographically, our position is that because there are very few, if any, safe places for members of our community to access UNHCR and Canadian visa officers, this is what creates the inaccessibility. Lesbians are particularly vulnerable as women, often because of their inability to travel. Some have no access to Canadian visa officers outside of their home country.
Consider the following situations: a gay man from Uganda often goes to Kenya, where the legislation is identical to that in Uganda; a Syrian lesbian couple goes to the United Arab Emirates; a transsexual Singaporean may need to go to Malaysia, and vice versa. In all of these cases there is no safe access.
I want you to imagine that you have fled your country because of a fear of persecution because of your sexual orientation or gender identity. You have no contacts, no friends. You are not able to access any support agencies. You may be able to work legally; you may not. You may have had to apply for a visa to enter the country and have only six months, or in some cases only two weeks, to stay in that host country. Depending on where you have been able to go, you face processing times that create excessive hardship and danger over prolonged periods of time.
Currently the LGBT applicants that we are sponsoring face some of these unacceptable time lengths. For example, people we're sponsoring who are currently in Pakistan face a six-and-a-quarter-year wait. In Kenya, they experience six years; in Egypt, four and a half years; and in Cambodia, four years. Although UNHCR has developed guidelines for the interviewing of LGBTI individuals, most applicants are terrified that they will be interviewed by someone who is homophobic. Despite this, some do approach UNHCR; however, others do not. We, as constituent groups, do have experience in assessing credibility.