A devout Muslim with a wife and five children has been granted asylum in Austria on the basis that he would be persecuted for his homosexuality if he were returned to his nations of citizenship.
The man, a Russian-Tajik dual citizen, first entered Austria illegally on September 22, 2023, via Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Upon intake, he applied for asylum on the grounds that he was looking for better economic circumstances for his wife and give children. He also claimed he was afraid of being drafted to fight in Ukraine by Russia.
The application was rejected in April, but the migrant filed an appeal. During an oral hearing on the case, the man, a devout Muslim who had recently completed a pilgrimage to Mecca, changed his reason for seeking asylum, disclosing that he was gay and feared persecution in his home countries.
The man continued that he wanted to start meeting male partners for sex, and wouldn’t be able to do that in Russia or Tajikistan.
His application was subsequently approved, with the asylum tribunal deciding that him having a wife and children did not necessarily mean that he couldn’t also be gay.
Since being approved, the man’s wife and children, who have been residing in Turkey awaiting the decision on his application, are now also eligible to join him in Austria.
The bizarre story has caused waves in Austria, with the newly-elected Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) condemning the decision. Vienna FPÖ chairman Maximilian Krauss called the verdict a “judicial scandal” and accused aid organizations and lawyers of advising asylum seekers to falsely claim they are gay. Krauss also demanded an end to what he called the “fooling of our state.”
This is not the first time a migrant has come under scrutiny for apparently falsely claiming to be homosexual in order to gain asylum, with suspected cases being reported across Europe.
In March, a Syrian asylum seeker in the Netherlands claimed that he was a homosexual after being found guilty of sexually assaulting four 11-year-old girls at the Center Parcs holiday resort. The claim was made as part of his mitigating arguments against being deported back to Syria.
Despite claiming he was of a “persecuted” sexual minority, the Syrian national had a wife and child awaiting approval to join him in the Netherlands under family reunification laws.
