The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) provides direct support to asylum seekers and refugees at every stage
of the Irish international protection process. These services include advice and information provision
through a free drop-in service; early legal advice through the IRC’s Independent Law Centre and holistic
integration supports through dedicated programmes on access to education, housing and
employment.

Through these services we encounter and assist international protection applicants from a diverse
range of backgrounds, each person presenting with complex issues and particular needs. Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers and refugees face a significant gap in protection and
fulfilment of basic needs, both in the context of reception conditions and throughout the international
protection decision making procedures. In our work with LGBT asylum seekers, through both individual
case work and involvement in other policy and advocacy activities such as facilitating the Identity Peer Support Group
and consultation with LGBT asylum seekers for research projects, 
it has become clear
that LGBT asylum seekers and refugees are an excluded group in both the asylum seeking and Irish
LGBT communities.

This submission aims to highlight some areas of concern that should be incorporated into the National
LGBT Inclusion Strategy if the strategy is to be genuinely ‘inclusive’ of all members of the LGBT
community in Ireland. The examples and recommendations provided herein are by no means an
exhaustive overview of the issues, nor do they purport to be representative of the needs of LGBT
asylum seekers and refugees as a whole, but rather reflect trends emerging from the IRC’s casework
and direct engagement with people in the asylum process.

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