Rainbow Refugees Welcome

Rainbow (Refugees) Welcome!project was an initiative designed to improve the reception of LGBTIQA+ refugees and asylum seekers in Europe. The project was coordinated by Pour La Solidarité (PLS), an independent European think & do tank based in Brussels committed to promoting solidarity and sustainability in Europe and run between 2020 and 2022. The project was co-funded by the Programme Rights, Equality and Citizenship of the European Union(2014-2020) and gathered actors out in the field and experts from four countries: Le Refuge Bruxelles / Het Opvanghuis Brussels (Belgium), FondationLe Refuge (French), Associazione Della Croce Rossa Italiana - Comitato Area Metropolitana Di Roma Capitale (Italy), and ACATHI (Spain).

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‘’Rainbow Welcome!’’ project aimed to:

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• Identify legal and on-the-ground procedures and offers to deal with welcoming LGBTQIA+ refugees
• Identify strengths and weaknesses when answering LGBTQIA+ refugee's needs
• Map LGBTIQA+ shelters and places in Europe where good practices have been put in place to better answer their needs
• Equip LGBTIQA+ shelters and associations as well as refugees' reception centers and public authorities on how to welcome, orientate and answer the needs of LGBTQIA+ refugees
• Raise awareness about the situation of LGBTQIA+ refugees through large-scale photo and video campaigns
• Advocate for LGBTIQA+ refugees' rights and needs towards the EU.

The project helped to create a safer and more welcoming environment for LGBTQIA+ refugees and asylum seekers in the partner countries, a population that often-faced discrimination and violence because of their SOGIESC in their country of origins, discriminations that can be perpetuated in the asylum procedure.