Katya Mikhailova ("Kate")
Age 21 (born 29 Jan 2002)25 Dec 2023
Heerlen, Limburg (Netherlands)
Suicide
Katya died by suicide after her asylum application was rejected.
Asylum seeker Kate Mikhailova, who fled Moldova, has died. The 21-year-old trans woman took her own life on Christmas Day. LGBT Asylum Support has announced this.
Her asylum application was rejected last week. Kate fled her country because of the transphobic climate. She ended up in the asylum center in Heerlen, where she again faced threats and discrimination.
Kate Mikhailova did not feel safe in the Netherlands and did not receive the protection she needed to be herself. She is the fourth asylum seeker to take her own life this year. LGBT Asylum Support is very concerned about the increase in the number of suicides among LGBTI-plus asylum seekers.
Are you thinking about suicide or worried about someone? Talking about suicide helps and can be done anonymously via chat at www.113.nl or by telephone on 113 or 0800-0113.
(Source: LGBT Asylum Support)
Katya was originally from Bendery in Moldova where he₹birth family had not accepted her identity.
Anna, a transgender girl from Ukraine, was close to Katya Mikhailova, born in Moldova and who died 10 months after Hina: “in Katya's case, everything happened because of a specific official who made a formal decision [to deny asylum]. He saw that the girl was on the safe countries list and decided that the rest of Katya's case was irrelevant.”
Mikhailova lived in the small town of Bendery with her family. However, they did not accept her transgender identity and, after many beatings, she (with the help of the GenderDoc-M center) had to move to a temporary shelter.
“Moldova is quite intolerant, especially the Transnistrian region, as the local government copies all Russian laws,” explained Kholod Anzhelika Frolova, director of GenderDoc-M. In Bendery, Katya was forced to join the army. The girl underwent medical examinations and was “diagnosed” with transsexualism.
“It all ended with the military officer saying, 'We haven't received any documents from the hospital, so we're taking you,'” Frolova continued. After that, Mikhailova fled the country, and a criminal case was opened against her for evading military service.
Katya Mikhailova spent more than a year and a half in the Netherlands, trying to obtain refugee status. In December 2023 the denial was confirmed.
On December 25, Katya Mikhailova's body was discovered in the hallway of a refugee camp in the city of Heerlen.
https://rozegolf.net/2023/12/27/afgewezen-trans-asielzoekster-maakt-einde-aan-haar-leven/
