Support in front of lager in Bornitzstr. Berlin

122 people in #Bornitzstr. Lager are not receiving food since Thursday.

Today a group of volunteers went to the Lager to give warm food outside here a short video taken:

Giving food at Bornitzstr102 Lager – Berlin from abriraqui

Update Monday, 10.10.2016

At Bornitzt Lager people were asked to go to Lageso, but in between employers in the Lager have told the people they would throw their stuff outside, so they’ve stayed inside their rooms. They’ve also threatend them with taking the beds and blankets ways from them.

All these plus the fact they are receiving no food. Any support in site, would be great 🙂

Update Tuesday, 11.11.2016

After a weekend of tension and without food. What’s next in #Borniztstr102?

Monday came and with it, the stress of the possibility of being thrown out of the Lager, the place where many have lived for more than one year or at least several months. The eviction could happen at any moment.

At 7 o’clock the workers of the lager, started waking everybody up, they had to remove their stuff from their rooms, they even said they had to bring out the beds and blankets. Only astonishment came from the side of the people living in the lager, why should be treated like that?, they are just asking that decisions are communicated in advance, so that they can organize things, they just want to understand why in 24h they have to leave for no reason, just one reason, none were given until now.

The more close to a reason was when someone said, “well Lageso realised that is not really legal to have you so crowded, so now they want to apply the law, for their own safety”. As I heard this I really wondered if someone could really accept that as an argument, all lagers are not at any point fulfilling human conditions, crowed, with no good hygienic conditions, food is shit (literally), many times there is no medical support, social workers who are not really doing their job, no places for study, without talking about how they are many times treated with disdain, ignored, etc, etc. but the German government is paying lots of money to these companies so that all needs should be covered, but everything is just a bunch of business interests in all sides, except in the refugee side.

One of the facts of what is going on at Bornitzstr 102 is that PeWoBe has been asked to leave this management of the Lager and another company should take care, PeWoBe looks like does not want to give up, so now is a duel between companies. Maybe is good to remember the PeWobe scandal, I’ll just cite DW article from August 2016:

“Far beyond gallows humor
Now that the internal correspondence full of macabre remarks has merged, professionalism is the last thing that comes to mind in connection with PeWoBe. Via email, several senior employees discussed what they should do with a 5,000 euro ($5,600) donation.

A sandbox was out of the question because the residents “would quickly turn it into an ashtray or a local toilet,” wrote Peggy M, director of one of the shelters. Instead, she suggested getting a “child guillotine.”

Berlin minister Mario Czaja canceled the company’s contract
Oher employees sent her photos of guillotines and decapitated heads. Beheadings are so messy, another female colleague warned: “There’s always splatter.” They also discuss a crematorium for which they would award an environmental certificate because the waste heat “is used for a cause.”

“We’re so good,” the employee concluded, adding that the “maximally pigmented” refugees could do the cleaning up.

The email correspondence was leaked to the city of Berlin, and over the weekend, the media began to pick it up.”

And this company got the contract because of direct contacts with Berlin’s Department for Health and Social Affairs, that is called corruption, a word that in Germany is still not too used, but which is also full of.

So, although most of the people in the morning were decided to go to Lageso/Laf, to check what was going on and what were the possibilities, once they were out, some people that stayed ended up calling because the workers were starting to move their things out ( — you know “it’s their job”, they get paid to do anything the boss says –), so everybody back to the rooms to resist this way of being thrown out, like animals.

So most of the people stayed, but a group of people went to Lageso to talk and see what options were possible.
In between I got some more information of what was happening, they removed the locks from the doors and they cut the electricity of certain rooms. Of course still no food for those “in the list”, it does not matter if there would be enough or not, is just a question of punishment.

The rest of the day, was more or less “calm”, this calm tension of uncertainty, of feeling not worth even an explanation, knowing that somewhere there is legal battle to keep the business of a NUK, and that there is no political action to prevent this situation.

Inside, we were able to chat, have a cup of tea, and see some photos of how beautiful is Syria, talk about friends, family, differences in Europe, we are able to laugh, and enjoy despite the situation. Moment like this are better than gold.

At the end of the day, a couple of buses parked outside the Lager, and took some people to Spandau.

Update, Thursday, 13.10.2016

One week of harassment at #Bornitzstr102 Lager #Berlin

Now is one whole week, since the people at Bornitzstr 102 Lager have suffered daily harassment from the workers and management of PeWoBe company. The ways have been multiple, from the basics of not giving them food, to waking up early in the morning saying they had to leave and that there things would be thrown to the streets. Menacing with removing beds and blankets, to actually remove locks from doors, cut of light in rooms. Also large amount of meetings have been hold with management, Lageso delegation (officially they don’t recognize pressure or negotiations have been going on), there was only one mission, to transmit people living in the Lager, that the only option was to leave the Lager, to transfer to another Lager (by the way in much worse conditions and far away from the city center).

What is said “there is no other option”, it has to do with the fact that PeWoBe is in the middle of a legal fight with Lageso, to keep the management of the Lager, although the racist mails exchange between the bosses was made public a couple of months ago. So the decisions rely on the private interests of companies, while Lageso/LAF and the Job Center, institutions in charge of the well being of the refugees, just deny any possibility of action on behalf of refugees.

Whole week long refugees, have gone to Lageso and to Job Center to ask for an explanation of what is happening. Today, one person who went to Job Center, received as an answer “you have to stay until the end of the month where you are since your costs have already been paid“, to this, the person asked, “yes, but PeWoBe is throwing me out“. In a moment of reaction, Job Center, tries to call Bornitzstr Lager, impossible to reach, none of the phones were working, no even the fax, so communication with the Lager was not possible. To that Job Center said, “you have to deal yourself with PeWoBe“. Also today, some other people went to Lageso, and also ask “what’s going on?”, the response was also, we don’t know, the only option is to transfer to another Lager, to which people opposed, since for the moment, only KopenicerAllees seems to be the only option, a crowded Lager with around 1000 people.

Meanwhile, inside the Lager, the harassment continued, this time, the women room was the target. Security from the Lager (6 men), a social worker and someone from the management, went inside the women’s room and wanted to force them to leave the Lager. As one women started screaming, the rest of the people in nearby rooms, run and gathered around the security. The question was “why do you want to force these women to leave?”, not being able to continue with the force eviction, the workers had the great idea of calling the police, so that the police threw people out. Police came, asked what was happening, if there was a fight or a quarrel or a strong discussion. None of that was taking place. Workers had to admit that there was nothing happening, an astonished police asked “then why do you call?”, workers answered “we want that you throw this people out”.

Police got annoyed and said “to move out people that have done nothing, is not our business, that you have to deal it with Lageso, Job Center …”, then they started taking the names of the workers that had by far exceeded their competences. And also the police asked the women, what had happened.

Also in the morning, the 4th and 5th floor have been opened, and families have been moved to the upper floors. In between new people are entering the Lager (it happens daily), with staying permission of 6 months, so, what are the criteria followed?.

As times passes it gets more clear, that everything is a mess, what is happening around Bornitzstr Lager is unclear, irregular, suspicious, there is no clear mandate from Lageso / Job Center of how the situation should be approached, and everything wants to be silenced.

In the background goes violation of human rights, corruption, business with human lives, indifference.

Securities trying to evict women using force #Bornitzstr102 #Berlin from abriraqui

Private security from PeWoBe are trying to evict by force the women staying in Borniztstr Lager. After hearing woman’s scream the other refugees came to the room, to prevent the eviction and throw the security out of the room

Update, Thursday 13.10.2016

Between embarrassment and disgust of what’s going on at #Bornitzstr102 Lager #Berlin

In the evening, I decided to go out and take a bit of fresh air, so I went to visit my friends at #Bornitzstr102 Lager. Is not too far, and what they are going through there deserves some company and everybody to know. That people are invisible in a country just because is not their country, to be threatened permanently, to feel voiceless because there is no-one around , is something that basic makes me feel embarrassed. How can we turn our heads and look to another place, how can it be ignored the abuse on refugees, on extreme their fragile circumstances, for the sake of money, of profit, how can a country as Germany be so hypocritical and talk about a welcoming culture, when almost one million people are suffering on their daily basis.

This week I’m reporting what’s going on at #Bornitzstr102 but is just one of thousand cases. But maybe looking closer at it, it can be understood what means the psychological abuse at what refugees are submitted. As said I went to visit, to chat, to know what was happening since in the morning several incidents had taken place, the main one related on how the security men from the Lager went to throw out the women of the women’s room. Also in the morning took place another incident, where security went inside of another room, and started throwing the things out of the room, but the people inside said they wouldn’t move, the security tried to provoke the people, with no luck, nobody reacted, so they stayed. It’s clear they are trying by all means, that people let themselves go a bit, to then accuse them of violence. When said by all the people I’ve talked to, there has been no violent incident between people living inside the Lager, at least the year+ they’ve been there.

Another meeting was about to take place, it starts to become quite hilarious the fact that the meetings are done between people that have no competence to change the current situation in the Lager, that is translators coming from Lageso, refugees and some person belonging to PeWoBe. They can talk as long as they want, the situation won’t be clarified, negotiations will not take place, is just to give the people the run around, tire them, lie to them, create confusion and fear.

The attitude of Lageso translators, is embarrassing, people who’s task is supposed to be only, to transmit messages, not to build them and manipulate them.

First they simulate that they hear people’s complaints, that is, people who got a paper from Lageso on Monday saying they could stay in Bornitzstr 102 for the next two months, two days later, they find themselves in the list of people to be transfered to another Lager. So PeWoBe accepts any new registration (that means get the money for one person) and then throws out the person, so where is the money ending? and the person? where are the person’s rights? being on the list means not getting food, although not even people who are not in the list get the food, since due to having to go to courses or the school, they don’t have their food when they come back, which means that most of the people are only getting 2 meals instead of 3 (saving money, where is the money ending?) where are the rights of the people to get what they already have assigned?
Other person stands up and says “we are just money for you“, as he shows a 1€ coin, then there is a general complain about the heating, the Lager is cold, in between the translator says, well they are going to cut the electricity of the first floor, so you have to leave. Then another person takes the turn and says but I’m not in Lageso, I’m in the job center. Of course, no answer. A girl, one of the ones that were to thrown out in the morning, stands up and says, “My mum is old, she cannot walk too much, how can she go to a Lager where the toilets are 10 minutes from the room? how can she go to a place where she has to walk 15 minutes to the first bus stop?“. No answer. The next one says, but I have my school 10 minutes from here, how I move to a place where it takes me more than an hour to come here? No answer. (a side note, many of them have got a school to learn German or do an Ausbildung after 4-5 months fighting it.) Another turn says, we don’t want to go to KopenickerAllee because there are nazis around and we know they are attacking refugees. No answer. One key point in not wanting to move, is that some people get the complete amount of money from Lageso (~360€) ,that is the food is not deduced, this enables families to survive in some other country, without it, it would mean starvation for women and children back at home.

Some other interventions went on. But after getting no answers. The translators just kept repeating, as a mantra, you have to leave, you have to leave, you have to leave. Leave to where and why?, if it was clear Lageso would not be sending people day after day to this Lager, if it was clear they would be able to issue a document specifying the transfer, if would not say to people that they are lying when they are telling that they are getting no food. As people continued asking, protesting and saying they won’t move from Bornitzstr102, the translaters attacked again by saying, if you don’t leave, it will affect you asylum process, it can mean that you will not be accepted to stay in Germany. Then it came to me the disgust, no comments. Another hand was raised, No that’s not true, what happens here has nothing to do with our asylum processes. Then the translator had to rephrase what she wanted to say. But will this trigger the fear of being punished just because they are just asking what is the reason of the transfer, why to certain people, why are people being cross out with no reason and others added with also no reason?

At the end of the session which seemed to be some kind of boss, that didn’t introduce himself, address to the people, and cynically, he said that he wanted that everything evolved with no violence, that they wanted a calm dialogue, and that for todays things would remain like that but tomorrow they will continue, probably he meant, they would continue harassing people.