One evening, Didier, 27, closed up his shop for the day, in a town in Kenya and went to meet friends for a house party - he had no idea his life was about to change so drastically - and permanently. He was arrested - with no legitimate grounds - abused by police and forced to leave the country. “I miss everything,” he says.

Matofu, 41, was at risk of being killed by his own family in Uganda. Family members had murdered his older brother for being attracted to men. Later, they began to suspect that Matofu was also gay. His mother took him across the Kenyan border for protection - and she too was murdered when she returned. “My uncles killed her because she hid me,” Matofu says with a deep intake of breath - “I was just eight”. He hid his identity into teens and adulthood - but recently the threats resurfaced. A single parent, he fled for his life along with his son Suphi, 10.

The refugee camp in Malawi has also failed to be a safe space. Malawi’s Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) accuses the UN Refugee Agency in Malawi (UNHCR) of being homophobic, based on research carried out with LGBTQ+ people in the camp.

Matofu, 41, and his son Suphi, 10, arrived at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi in 2015, as did Didier, 27, who they became friends with at the camp (all names changed).

Story produced for Frontline AIDS.
Since the documentation successful advocacy saw Didier, Matofu and Suphi granted asylum in Canada where they have settled in to new and peaceful lives.