LGBTQIA+ refugees in Brazil: The protection of personality rights and the framework of international guidelines as social groups

Abstract

This article addresses the possibility of recognizing LGBTQIA+ people to be recognized as refugees, mainly in Brazil. The objective is to identify whether the country has followed international guidelines when analyzing applications. To do so, at first, there is an evolution of the refugee institute, focusing especially on the reasons that give rise to the justification of the request, as well as the protection of the rights of the personality of refugees. Later, it is verified how this institute was received in the country. Finally, information is sought on how the country has analyzed applications and whether there is current data to be analyzed. The approach methodology used was the hypothetical-deductive, considering that the work starts from the main idea that the LGBTQIA+ community, when it needs to migrate to guarantee its own life, is welcomed by the international community as refugees due to belonging to a social group. Thus, it was sought to analyze whether this premise is true and, if not, what the reasons are. For this purpose, documentary and bibliographic research was used. As a result, it was found that a small part of countries accept LGBTQIA+ as refugees. In Brazil, the country has the practice of accepting all people, without distinction as to social group, therefore following international guidelines. However, since 2016, the platform that provides data on refugee status decisions has only requested information based on social group belonging, but without identifying whether the request is made by LGBTQIA+ people.