Germany has opened its first shelter for gay and lesbian refugees, as fears grow over threats to sexual minorities in overcrowded accommodations.

The new housing in southern Germany’s Nuremberg can host up to eight people, according to a community association called Fliederlich which started the initiative.

LGBTI refuges are opening in Germany to protect refugee minorities

“No one has moved in yet but it’s a question of a day or two, the accommodation is ready,” the group told reporters.

“Four people from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Ethiopia have made requests” for a bed in the “small two-storey house,” the group said.

The association had decided to open a shelter after being contacted by 20 refugees who said they felt threatened in the shelters they were put up in.

“Prejudices don’t disappear when one crosses the borders,” Fliederlich said in a statement, adding that those who are persecuted in their home countries for being gay are also being targeted in refugee shelters in Germany.

Beyond the Nuremberg shelter, Berlin is also due to open a far larger accommodation in February with 120 beds.

No data is available on the number of attacks against homosexual refugees across Germany, which took in 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015.

But the gay and lesbian association for the states of Berlin and Brandenburg said it had recorded 95 cases between August 1 to December 31, last year, including physical violence, sexual attacks and threats.

In recent months, gay and lesbian asylum seekers in Germany are being both physically and emotionally abused by fellow refugees due to their sexuality.

As more people flee violence in their home countries of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to seek safety in Europe, crowded camps and accommodation for a diversity of people is proving to create even more violence.

In the German city of Dresden, at least seven gay asylum seekers have had to be relocated to different shelters for their safety in this year alone.

A record number of gay and lesbian asylum seekers will arrive in Germany this year, with experts estimating that 50,000 will reach the European nation accepting the largest amount of refugees.

European countries such as Germany, which is led by a female and chancellor and offers legal benefits to same-sex couples, have sharply contrasting laws to nations such as Iran and Uganda where gays face persecution.

Sarah Gilmour
AMES Australia Staff Writer