In search of shelter, LGBTI+ persons are forced to leave Kosovo

About 250km from Pristina, two Kosovars have taken refuge in Albania's capital, Tirana.

Like those two, over the years, many other members of the LGBTI+ community (slebic, gay, bisexual, transgjinor, interdirector, etc) have been forced to move to Albania when expelled from their homes.

This, since it has been promised in Kosovo for four years, there is still no shelter for the people of this community. Their destination remains the Strha centre in Albania.

“The shelter was opened when we noticed that because of the desire to live cheaper, some people showed their identity and, as a result, lost their place. Families were thrown out and they were homeless”, says the executive director of this centre, Adelaida Alikaj, for Radio Free Europe.

The centre provides housing for about six months for persons aged 18-29 LGBTI+. But it also offers various services, such as rent support programs, psycho-social services, professional services, family media, and so on.

In addition to members of this community from Albania, Strha has also become home to Albanian-speaking people from the region, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro respectively.

Eight people are employed in this center, with the capacity to accommodate eight people but offering remote services for many more.

The biggest need for these people to find people like them and talk about the challenges they have faced. It's not in regulations that they should form societies, because everyone experiences their journey in their own way. But, in almost all cases, they have a family relationship”, Alikaj relates.

Why is a shelter needed in Pristina?

Alikaj says the problems facing people of this community from Kosovo are similar to those that have people coming from Albania, but that their challenges “are unique to”.

It shows that there are logistical problems that make the process difficult for people from Kosovo, such as procedures for getting residence permits, medical services, job findings, opening bank accounts, etc.

“We have been working over the years so that there will be no barriers and no prevent access to services. But there's a lot of work to do. The cases referred to by Kosovo are a double job for all staff”, Alikaj says.

For these and many other reasons, Arber Nuhiu, leader of the Centre for Development of Social Groups (CSGD) in Kosovo, has been seeking such housing in Kosovo for years.

Although it says no statistics are kept, Nuhu estimates there are about 20 to 30 cases a year that need housing. But, the Strha Centre in Tirana has no room for all.

We, unfortunately, have to select the most severe cases and that are not easy, because, normally, every case is serious. But we have to select those who know they are more urgent about the”, Nuhu tells Radio Free Europe.

In Kosovo, currently, there are only shelters for women who experience domestic violence. Nuhiu shows that these shelters are not welcome for the LGBTI+ community.

A gay guy can't even get into a woman's shelter. It's also a problem for a legal woman. It may be easier for lesbian women, but for gay boys and women and others, it's a lot of trouble”, he says.

Work on building such a shelter had begun since 2021, when the Directorate of Social Management in Pristina had earmarked about 300 thousand euros for its construction.

However, even on this year's Crenaria Week in Pristina, which was held from June 3rd to June 8th, the problem of the unfulfilled promise of building this shelter was again highlighted.

Why is the shelter not built in Pristina?

Social Management Director in Pristina municipality Adelaina Sahiti says the project was suspended last year, due to <x0-minoration of the practices needed for its functioning”.

“Initially, community representatives have demanded that the shelter be placed in the Pristina suburb for security reasons. However, later the same representatives have proposed that the location be in urban areas, also for security reasons”, Sahiti says of the REL.

But Noah from CSGD says this statement does not stand. He says municipal officials in Pristina themselves have suggested changing the location that was originally designated for security reasons.

We've been told that it's a problem to build there, because the residents have understood what's being planned and it's dangerous. This is a mutual suggestion and agreement. Normally it had to be changed then the location, it's not that we've changed our thinking”, Nuhu says.

He expresses uncertainty when the project can be finalised.

Sahiti, meanwhile, says that, after the new location is determined, then work on building and functioning the centre can begin.

Nor does she give concrete answers to the question of when her finalisation could be expected.

What can be learned from the shelter in Tirana?

Regarding the location of the shelter, Alikaj, from the Strha centre, suggests that shelter be built somewhere in downtown Pristina.

The places we rent have always been in the areas downtown. The suburbs would be very dangerous. There are more policemen in the centre, there are more protections”, Alikaj says.

She adds that although located in the center, Strha has faced problems because of homophobic, but she believes such problems would be even more pronounced if Strha was located somewhere in the suburbs.

In 2022, Strha was rewarded with “Human Rights Prize 2022” by the French National Consultative Commission for Human Rights.

Alikaj believes that some of the practices that have made the Shelter successful are adapting services according to the needs of each person sheltered there and understanding the effects that trauma can have on one person.

The Strha itself was created as a need for society at the time. We see the need and respond to it”, Alikaj says.

According to this year's Amnesty International report, persons LGBTI+ in Kosovo face discrimination and low level of availability in society. Alikaj shows the situation is similar in Albania.

But, in a report published in March this year by Spartacus Gay Travel Index, Kosovo has been ranked less hospitable to the LGBTI+ community among Balkan countries and worse than European Union countries.