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We call LGBTQIA+-friendly (or gay-friendly) the places, policies, people, or institutions that are open and welcoming to all members of the LGBTQIA+ community, actively create an environment that is supportive of these people and their relationships, respectful of all people, that treat all people equally, and are non-judgmental. Iceland is the first and Belgium is the 4th most LGBTQIA+-friendly country in the world according to the Gay Travel Index (2026).
These countries, mostly located in Europe and North America, are the main destination of LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers.
Officially, there is no single list of the unsafe countries meant to help authorities who are working with migrants. There are different rankings of the unsafe countries in the world.
There are still 12 countries where being gay is legally punishable by death based on Islamic rules. Yemen, Iran, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan in Asia, as well as Mauritania (for Muslim men), Sudan, Nigeria (some areas) and Somalia (some areas) in Africa. Gay people also face extrajudicial killings by state and non-state actors, as in Chechnya in Russia in 2019, though it is denied by the Chechen authorities and Russia.
In most African and Middle eastern countries, high social pressure is also causing LGBTQIA+ individuals to displace. For further details, check out our “World Facts” section.
South Africa is legally the safest country for LGBTQIA+ individuals in Africa. Guinea Bissau also explicitly abolished the criminalization of homosexuality in 1993. There is protection for LGBTQIA+ people in Angola and Mozambique, Seychelles, and some areas of Botswana; Namibia and Mauritius Island have also been reported to be more tolerant.
According to the latest data published by ILGA World, more than thirty African States continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relations. Among the most repressive countries are Uganda, Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan. In several other countries, including Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, consensual same-sex relations are punishable by severe prison sentences, including life imprisonment. Other countries, such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Guinea, Senegal, Algeria, Libya, and Morocco, also impose prison sentences for same-sex relations. Conversely, some States do not criminalize consensual same-sex relations but still provide little or no legal protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. These include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, and Madagascar. Finally, some countries that had previously decriminalized same-sex relations, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, have recently adopted legislation re-criminalizing them.
According to the latest data published by ILGA World, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Türkiye, and the West Bank (Palestine) are among the few territories in the Middle East where consensual same-sex relations are not explicitly criminalized. However, the absence of criminalization does not necessarily imply legal protection. In most of these countries, LGBTQIA+ people continue to face discrimination, arrests under other legal provisions (particularly those relating to "public morality" or "public decency"), or the absence of legal recognition of their rights. In Lebanon, although several court rulings have limited the application of Article 534 of the Penal Code, it has not been formally repealed and legal uncertainty remains.
LGBTQIA+ rights movements have gradually developed in several countries across the region, particularly in Lebanon, Türkiye, and Israel, despite increasingly hostile political environments and growing restrictions on freedom of association and expression.
The death penalty is legally prescribed for consensual same-sex relations in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. In other countries, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, ILGA World considers that the death penalty may still legally apply under certain circumstances, although its application remains legally uncertain. Iran remains one of the countries where LGBTQIA+ people face the harshest repression, with punishments ranging from flogging to the death penalty.
In Iraq, legislation adopted in 2024 explicitly criminalizes consensual same-sex relations, with penalties of up to fifteen years' imprisonment. The law also criminalizes the "promotion of homosexuality" and reinforces an already hostile environment marked by widespread violence against LGBTQIA+ people.
In Egypt, authorities regularly use provisions relating to "debauchery" or offences against public morality to arrest and prosecute LGBTQIA+ people, even though consensual same-sex relations are not explicitly prohibited under the Penal Code.
In Kuwait, consensual sexual relations between men are punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment. In Oman, consensual same-sex relations are punishable by prison sentences ranging from six months to three years. In the Gaza Strip, consensual sexual relations between men remain criminalized under legislation inherited from the British Mandate.
In Iran, the State legally recognizes transgender people and permits gender-affirming medical procedures following a highly regulated medical and legal process. However, this policy is rooted in a strictly binary understanding of gender and has been criticized for placing pressure on some gay and lesbian individuals to undergo medical transition. Despite this legal recognition, transgender people continue to face widespread discrimination in family life, employment, and society at large.
According to ILGA-Europe’s annual Rainbow Europe Map – which ranks the legal and policy situation of LGBTQIA+ people in 49 European countries - Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Monaco, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria respectively are at the worst countries in Europe to be LGBTQIA+.
Although, because of social challenges, there are a lot of LGBTQIA+ refugees currently coming from Georgia to Europe. Georgia has no clear procedure for legal gender recognition and the situation of LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders is risky in the country. A Georgian passport is enough to travel to Europe, there is no need for a visa to enter Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Italy, France and so on.
Depending on your story, the CGRS will decide if you are illegible or not to receive international protection.
https://ilga-europe.org