Opinion | ‘I Can See You Are Gay; I Will Kill You’

Rather than forcing L.G.B.T.Q. asylum seekers to go through the traditional resettlement process, we propose that safe countries like Belgium, Norway, Ireland and Canada expedite their resettlement — for example, by granting special visas — which would allow them to circumvent the resettlement process entirely. While they are awaiting resettlement, L.G.B.T.Q. refugees should be housed separately from other refugees as a precautionary measure against violence.

This idea is not new: In 1990, the United States passed the Lautenberg Amendment to help individuals suffering religious persecution in the Soviet Union, where the Communist government was imprisoning and killing members of minority religious groups. The amendment was created with Soviet Jews in mind, but also extended to other marginalized religious groups. Rather than having to prove individual persecution, applicants needed to prove their membership of a persecuted group — facilitating their rapid resettlement.

“When people are denied one of the most fundamental aspects of their lives, then international communities who recognize that fundamental right have a duty to look for solutions,” said Melanie Nathan, the executive director of African Human Rights Coalition. “That’s what happened with the Soviet Jewish émigrés.” With L.G.B.T.Q. refugees, she said, “they should do the same.”

Between 1990 and 2018, the Lautenberg Amendment helped thousands of people who fled the Soviet Union arrive in the U.S. In 2004, the program was expanded to include Iranian religious minorities.

Canada has created another potential solution, offering citizens the chance to sponsor refugees privately. Groups of Canadians provide financial and logistical support for a year to a refugee who has been approved for resettlement. Since 2015, more than half of the 62,000 Syrian refugees in Canada have been privately sponsored.

While the Canadian sponsorship program has become increasingly restrictive, it could easily be expanded to other countries where governments could introduce private sponsorship programs for L.G.B.T.Q. refugees who have already been approved for resettlement.

Until such programs take shape, tens of thousands of L.G.B.T.Q. people across Africa will face the daily threat of sexual assault, mob violence and even death. It is our duty to make sure that their stories do not go unheard.