Fury at UNHCR as burned Kakuma LGBTQIA+ refugee dies

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04/13/2021

Activists slam the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) after Kakuma Camp LGBTQIA+ refugee and human rights defender Chriton ‘Trinidad’ Atuhwera dies from burns sustained in a homophobic attack. The 22-year-old had been in critical condition in an ill-equipped hospital for weeks after he was burned when a petrol bomb was thrown into a group of LGBTQIA+ refugees, allies and their children who live in Block 13 in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Trinidad was one of two residents burned in the 15 March attack, which was one of many ongoing violent incidents perpetrated against LGBTQ refugees in the camp. According to reports, Trinidad spent much of the time at Kenyatta National Hospital tied to his bed, unable to access food, given that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) prevented his caregiver from accompanying him to the hospital. This weakened him severely leading to the need for him to be on a feeding tube. Activists had pleaded for the UNHCR, the authorities and others to organise the medical evacuation of both Trinidad and the other victim, Jordan, to a safe country where they could receive the necessary specialised medical care to save their lives. Tragically, on Monday, Trinidad – who’d fled his homeland of Uganda to avoid LGBTQ persecution – succumbed to his injuries and died.

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