GERMAN GAYS OPEN THEIR HOMES TO LGBT REFUGEES FROM SYRIA

GERMAN GAYS OPEN THEIR HOMES TO LGBT REFUGEES FROM SYRIA

Posted: 11 Sep 2015 03:40 AM PDT

LGBT organizations in Germany have issued an appeal for Germans to open their homes to gay Syrian refugees who face discrimination from other refugees ... and death threats from radical Islamic militants.

Gay Syrians arriving at refugee camps in Germany say they have been subjected to verbal and even physical attacks from other refugees during the long trek from their war-torn homeland.

While the news cameras focus on families with small children, most of the refugees are in fact young adult males ... and between 5 and 10 per cent are gay or bisexual, according to German LGBT groups reaching out to gay refugees.

In Syria, they faced the threat of death at the hands of DAESH Islamic State barbarians who have executed scores of gay men ... throwing them from tall buildings and stoning them to death if they survive the fall.

But even after they arrive safely in Germany, gays and lesbians are the victims of homophobia, according to German LGBT groups.

German television reported Thursday that DAESH militants have infiltrated some refugee camps.

"They shout Koran verses all night and scream that they will kill anyone who stands in their way," a Syrian refugee told ARD television. "A friend of mine was beheaded in Syria, so I am scared out of my wits."

Even less militant refugees are hostile towards LGBT refugees in their midst.

"Right now we are handling the case of a man who is in a refugee camp in Magdeburg in eastern Germany who says he fears for his life," says Mathias Fangohr, head of the Magdeburg Pride Organization.

"He is terrified that if other camp residents find out he is gay he will end up dead," Fangohr says. 

"He is totally traumatized from the ordeal he has gone through and is desperate for help," he adds.

The situation is compounded by the fact that many of the support groups are homophobic.

"We have trouble finding Arabic interpreters because many of them refuse to interpret for gays, whom they consider to be filth," he adds. "They won't even mention the word for homosexual in Arabic because it is dirty."

A Berlin group has issued an appeal for gays in the German capital to open their homes to LGBT refugees so that they can avoid homophobic taunts and humiliation at refugee camps.

The group has also launched a program for teaching LGBT refugees language skills and job skills to help them get on their feet in Germany.

With a falling birth rate and declining population, Germany has welcomed the refugees not only on humanitarian grounds ... but also as a boost to immigration.

Germany expects to take in half a million refugees primarily from Syria in the coming year.