Please Help Me to Live
My name is Yaser. I am an Iraqi LGBTQ+ refugee, now living alone in Beirut, Lebanon.
I escaped from a life that had become unbearable — a life filled with fear, shame, and violence just because of who I am.
My family forced me to marry a girl to hide the truth about me. My father, a military officer who always carried a gun, beat me many times and threatened to kill me when he found out who I really was.
For years, I lived in silence and fear, pretending to be someone I’m not — trapped inside a life that was never mine.
When the threats became too real, I had no choice but to flee. Lebanon was the only country I could enter without a visa, so I escaped here in desperation — leaving everything behind: my home, my belongings, my friends, and a part of myself.
Now I live in a small hotel room, completely alone. I eat one meal a day to save the little money I have left. Some nights I sleep hungry, and some nights I can’t sleep at all. I take my medication (Paxil) for my mental health, but even that is becoming too expensive. I feel my strength fading each day.
I have reached out to many organizations and to UNHCR, but the process takes time. Time that I no longer have.
I am running out of money, running out of energy, and sometimes… running out of hope.
Every day, I wake up afraid — afraid of being recognized, of being found, of being forgotten. I change hotels often, trying to stay safe. I have no one beside me, no family, no friends, only silence and fear.
All I want is safety — a place where I can live without hiding, without fear, where I can simply exist as myself.
If you are reading this, please, I beg you — stand with me.
Your compassion, your kindness, could be the reason I survive.
It could be the small light that keeps my hope alive. ❤️
