Nader and Omar had been through a lot since meeting at one of Istanbul’s best-known gay clubs, Tek Yön. As Syrian refugees, the two moved in together and forged a life in the city — until a call came and Nader received news that his resettlement application with UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, had been successful. Having been granted political asylum in Norway, the gay Syrian man left his life in Istanbul, his home since June 2014, for a city he knew relatively nothing about in northern Europe.



Both men were caught between happiness and melancholy, knowing that making their relationship work long-distance would be hard; there was no news on Omar’s resettlement application.

Since same-sex partnership or marriage isn’t legal in their homeland or in Turkey, despite being engaged the couple couldn’t have their files with the UNHCR joined. If they were a heterosexual Syrian couple, the situation would have been a lot easier, and they would have both been saved a lot of mental torment.

