A gay, albino Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugee has been refused asylum in black-run South Africa in what advocates say is an increasing pattern of refusals for LGBT asylum seekers

Charles Ngoy was refused asylum, in part, because Congo does not have a sodomy law due to its legacy as a Belgian and not British colony (although one has been proposed, reportedly directly inspired by the infamous Ugandan kill gays bill). However gay people in Congo suffer as in most of the rest of Africa from discrimination, rejection and harassment. Junior Mayema, for example, a gay Congolese refugee in South Africa, fled after his mother tried to inject him with gasoline. He was hunted, shunned and banished. Charles grew up and spent most of his life living in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa. His parents divorced when he was less than a year old. The main reason for the divorce was because his father’s mother had a problem with the color of his skin – he was albino. Growing up he did not have a family experience. He lived with his father most of the time during school, but did not feel loved by him. His father’s new wife did not accept him as part of the family and treated him horribly. He arrived in South Africa recently and applied for refugee status, but was rejected by a Department of Home Affairs official. His first impressions are that people in South Africa also judge him for being albino, and he has sensed a similar homophobia.