Tag: Refugee camp

Leben im Lager? Keinen Tag länger! Demo in Brandenburg/Havel – 30/3, 15h

Refugee Demo Havel

EN – FR – DE

While the society has the chance to choose when and how they want to visit their loved ones in Corona times, the refugees living in camps have been unable to have any visits to their camps since the first wave of Corona. Visits with a negative Corona schnelltest are not possible and they are not allowed to stay out of the camp for more than nine days per month.
The asylum-seekers living in Brandenburg AdH demand 2 visits per week in their rooms to be able to visit their loved ones in the place they call home and unlimited absence time.

We call for abolition of all lagers because the quality of life in heims is especially inhuman in Corona times.

Due to the peculiar residence status of most of these asylum-seekers, they are stripped of their right to privacy and at the same time, are not allowed to rent an apartment in the city nor are they allowed to leave the camp in some circumstances.
The bus connection from Upstallstraße accommodation to the city center which is the only way for the refugees to enjoy their basic freedom of movement runs only once every day. The bus line C should run regularly.
We demand the right to residency and stay in Germany, faster procedures at Auslanderbehörde and Sozialamt offices, average Internet connection, right to education, health care and work as well as a dignified life for every asylum-seeker and refugee regardless of their nationality, gender identity and age.
The refugees have sent a letter with their full list of demands to the corresponding authorities in the city of Brandenburg, but we also need to unite with them to follow up on these demands in a more efficient way.
Therefore, we call for a demonstration on 30.3.2021 at 3:00 PM in front of Ausländerbehörde / Neustädtischer Markt in Brandenburg AdH.
We demand dignity and respect by the authorities and the respective private companies running the lagers and public transport.

FR
Alors que la société a la possibilité de choisir quand et comment elle souhaite rendre visite à ses proches à l’époque de Corona, les réfugiés vivant dans des camps n’ont pas pu se rendre dans leurs camps depuis la première vague de Corona. Les visites avec un test Corona schnelltest négatif ne sont pas possibles et ils ne sont pas autorisés à rester en dehors du camp plus de neuf jours par mois.
Les demandeurs d’asile vivant à Brandenburg AdH exigent 2 visites par semaine dans leur chambre pour pouvoir rendre visite à leurs proches là où ils sont chez eux et un temps d’absence illimité.

Nous appelons à l’abolition de toutes les lagers car la qualité de vie à Heims est particulièrement inhumaine à l’époque de Corona.

En raison du statut de résidence particulier de la plupart de ces demandeurs d’asile, ils sont privés de leur droit à la vie privée et en même temps, ils ne sont pas autorisés à louer un appartement dans la ville ni à quitter le camp dans certaines circonstances.
La connexion en bus de l’hébergement Upstallstraße au centre-ville, qui est le seul moyen pour les réfugiés de profiter de leur liberté de mouvement fondamentale, ne fonctionne qu’une fois par jour. La ligne de bus C devrait fonctionner régulièrement.
Nous exigeons le droit de résidence et de séjour en Allemagne, des procédures plus rapides à Auslanderbehörde et Sozialamt bureaux, connexion Internet moyenne, droit à l’éducation, aux soins de santé et au travail ainsi qu’à une vie digne pour tous demandeur d’asile et réfugié quels que soient leur nationalité, leur identité de genre et leur âge.
Les réfugiés ont envoyé une lettre contenant la liste complète de leurs demandes aux autorités compétentes de la ville de Brandebourg, mais nous devons également nous unir à eux pour donner suite à ces demandes de manière plus efficace.
Par conséquent, nous appelons à une démonstration le 30.3.2021 à 15h00 devant Ausländerbehörde / Neustädtischer Markt à Brandenburg AdH.
Nous exigeons la dignité et le respect des autorités et des entreprises privées respectives gérant les lagers et transport public.

DE
Während die Gesellschaft die Möglichkeit hat zu entscheiden, wann und wie sie ihre Angehörigen in Corona-Zeiten besuchen möchten, konnten die in Lagern lebenden Flüchtlinge seit der ersten Welle von Corona keine Besuche in ihren Lagern mehr machen. Besuche mit einem negativen Corona-Schnelltest sind nicht möglich und dürfen nicht länger als neun Tage im Monat außerhalb des Lagers bleiben.
Die in Brandenburg AdH lebenden Asylsuchenden verlangen 2 Besuche pro Woche in ihren Zimmern, um ihre Angehörigen an dem Ort besuchen zu können, an dem sie zu Hause anrufen, und unbegrenzte Abwesenheitszeit.

Wir fordern die Abschaffung aller Lager, weil die Lebensqualität in Heims in Corona-Zeiten besonders unmenschlich ist.

Aufgrund des besonderen Aufenthaltsstatus der meisten dieser Asylsuchenden wird ihnen das Recht auf Privatsphäre entzogen und sie dürfen gleichzeitig weder eine Wohnung in der Stadt mieten noch das Lager unter bestimmten Umständen verlassen. Die Busverbindung von der Unterkunft in der Upstallstraße in die Innenstadt ist die einzige Möglichkeit für die Flüchtlinge, ihre grundlegende Bewegungsfreiheit zu genießen. Sie verkehrt nur einmal täglich. Die Buslinie C sollte regelmäßig verkehren.
Wir fordern das Recht auf Aufenthalt und Aufenthalt in Deutschland, schnellere Verfahren bei der Auslanderbehörde und den Sozialamt-Büros, durchschnittliche Internetverbindung, Recht auf Bildung, Gesundheitsversorgung und Arbeit sowie ein würdiges Leben für alle Asylsuchende und Flüchtlinge unabhängig von ihrer Nationalität, Geschlechtsidentität und ihrem Alter.
Die Flüchtlinge haben einen Brief mit ihrer vollständigen Liste der Forderungen an die entsprechenden Behörden in der Stadt Brandenburg geschickt, aber wir müssen uns auch mit ihnen zusammenschließen, um diesen Forderungen effizienter nachkommen zu können.
Deshalb fordern wir am 30.3.2021 um 15.00 Uhr eine Demonstration vor der Ausländerbehörde / Neustädtischer Markt in Brandenburg AdH.
Wir fordern Würde und Respekt von den Behörden und den jeweiligen privaten Unternehmen, die die Lagerbiere betreiben, und öffentlicher Verkehr.

A Very Big SALUTE to the Refugee Resistance in Ellwangen

by The VOICE Refugee Forum

With a strong and powerful fist raised towards the sky, we The VOICE Refugee Forum salute the bravery and courage of our fellow refugee brothers and sisters, for valiantly preventing the callous and inhuman deportation of a Togolese refugee and defending his right to human dignity.

Since the incident last Monday and the unsubstantiated Police allegation of “attack and violence” by refugees, the German mainstream and tabloid media have literally gone into overdrive to report on it. Yet, they are unable to report what the refugees are saying and experiencing. Any surprise? Not at all, because this is obviously an attempt to broaden and advance the underlying anti-refugee politics and policies of the German government, deliciously but dangerously spiced with racist motives and narratives. The press is refusing to report on the unhealthy, horrible and unbearable conditions that refugees are forced to live in, where refugees are crammed together like slaves on slave ships. They are failing to report that refugees are being deported with violence by the German authorities to countries (including Italy and others in Europe and beyond) where neither the safety of their lives nor their human dignity can be guaranteed. Is it any wonder that attempted and actual suicide by refugees are on the increase as a result of the hopelessness and lack of perspectives they are served with in this “Rechtsstaat”? Where is the press on these issues? There is a deafening silence!

…unsubstantiated Police allegation of “attack and violence” (“Several injured after huge police operation at ‘rebel’ asylum home” https://www.thelocal.de/20180503/hundreds-of-police-officers-deployed-at…)

Yes, rechtsstaat! The feckless politicians are head over heals tripping themselves on the way to see who can wear the badge of ‘the nastiest’ to the refugees. They are racing to the rotten bottom in condemnation of a legitimate resistance to oppression, violence and inhumanity in the name of rechtsstaat and hospitality that ‘must not be trampled on’. How cynical, disingenuous and hypocritical of you to even mention rechtsstaat and hospitality with your ‘lager’ mentality and how you treat refugees in those filthy camps. We are not even going into your shameless, dubious and corrupt collaboration with dictators all over Africa including Togo where this refugee fled from in the first place. You are so upright with your rechtsstaat that you reach agreements with and pay these dictators who in turn employ militias to brutalise and maim men, women and children seeking refuge from the dangerous situation that you facilitate with your economic interests. If the experience in these camps is what you define as hospitality, we heartily invite you to check into one of these camps (yes, there is still enough space for you and your family) and enjoy it. If you are too cowardly to take that offer, we ask you in very clear terms to take your hospitality and shove it!!!

The allegation of aggression, attack and violence by the police as widely reported in the media is so far, nothing more than a bogus claim as there is up till the moment of writing, no evidence to substantiate those claims. While the police managed to mis-inform and the press ran with the misinformation that the refugees injured scores of police officers – supposedly, officially the Police could only confirm that only one officer was slightly injured (see Taz, 3.5.18 “Was geschah in Ellwangen?” www.taz.de/!5500584/). Worse still is the allegation of weapons that the refugees supposedly had which also turned out to be flatly false. Unable to prove that the refugees were violent as alleged, the Police resorted to redefine and equate violence with coercion. Perhaps the Police need to be reminded of what violence is: violence is when you chained Oury Jalloh to the mattress in a police station in Dessau and burned him alive. Violence is when you forcibly pumped emetics into Laye Conde and killed him in a police station in Bremen, just as Achidi John in Hamburg. Violence is when you fatally shot Dominique Kumadio near his apartment in Dortmond just like you shot and killed Christie Schwundeck at the Job Centre in Frankfurt, and Mariamme Sarr in Ascherffenburg. Violence is when policemen raped women (who were to be deported) and filmed it, in police station in Bremen. Got it? The list goes on!!!

In our view, two things are particularly worth noting here. First, it is important to put these into some perspectives and understand that this is a carefully pre-planned and coordinated effort by the authorities to break the resistance of refugees to deportation. Moreover, it is to provide a political cover, legitimisation and justification for the unwarranted violence and brutality that the police are most likely to exert in any future deportation attempts. They have admitted this much in public and their action on Thursday confirms this. But it remains to be seen if the public will rise in support of human decency and respect of the vestiges of refugee rights in this country or they will submit to manipulation and be conned by these sinister machinations. For anyone who has been invested in any way in the pervasive and now-fading refugees welcome, it is time to shed that superficiality and get real and show some solidarity with these maligned refugees.

Second, there is nothing criminal about the desire to live a safe and secured life irrespective of how Germany and others may view it today. Millions of people migrated from Germany/Europe to seek better and secured lives in other countries and continents and so it is nothing new. Refugees are in this country exactly for this reason and “We are here because you destroy our countries”!!! So any attempt to deny us the opportunities to realise this is sure to be met with resistance. This is why refugee resistance is guaranteed to continue in Germany irrespective of the politics and policies of the German/European authorities or the number of policemen and women and their vehicles. It is in this spirit of resistance that we SALUTE the courageous action of refugees in Ellwangen.

Long Live the Resistance!!!

—————————————

deutsch

SALUT dem Flüchtlingswiderstand in Ellwangen

Mit einer starken und machtvollen zum Himmel gereckten Faust begrüßen wir, The VOICE Refugee Forum, die Tapferkeit und den Mut unserer Mitflüchtlinge, Brüder und Schwestern, weil sie beherzt die hartherzige und inhumane Abschiebung eines togoischen Flüchtlings verhindert und sein Recht auf Menschenwürde verteidigt haben.

Seit dem Vorfall letzten Montag und der substanzlosen Anschuldigung von “Angriff und Gewalt”, die von Flüchtlingen ausgegangen sein sollen, haben die deutschen Mainstream- und Boulevardmedien im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes die Automatikschaltung eingelegt, wenn sie darüber berichteten. Ja, sie sind nicht in der Lage, darüber zu berichten, was die Flüchtlinge sagen und welche Erfahrungen sie machen. Überraschung? Absolut nicht, denn dies ist offensichtlich ein Versuch, die zu Grunde liegende Anti-Flüchtlingspolitik und die Politik der deutschen Regierung delikat und gefährlich gewürzt mit rassistischen Motiven und Narrativen auf eine breitere Basis zu stellen und voranzutreiben.

Die Presse weigert sich, über die ungesunden, schrecklichen und unerträglichen Bedingungen zu berichten, unter denen Flüchtlinge zu leben gezwungen sind, wo Flüchtlinge zusammengepfercht werden wie Sklaven auf einem Sklavenschiff. Sie versäumen es, darüber zu berichten, dass Flüchtlinge von den deutschen Behörden gewaltsam in Länder (einschließlich Italien und andere europäische Staaten) abgeschoben werden, wo weder die Sicherheit ihres Lebens noch ihre Menschenwürde garantiert werden können. Ist es in irgendeiner Weise verwunderlich, dass versuchte und tatsächliche Selbstmorde von Flüchtlingen zunehmen als Resultat der Hoffnungslosigkeit und des Mangels an Perspektiven in diesem “Rechtsstaat”? Wo ist die Presse bei diesen Angelegenheiten? Hier herrscht ohrenbetäubende Stille!

Ja, Rechtsstaat! Die nutzlosen Politiker überstürzen sich dabei, um zu sehen, wer die Plakette desjenigen tragen kann, der am fiesesten gegenüber den Flüchtlingen ist. Sie führen ein Wettrennen zum verkommenen Boden der Verurteilung eines legitimen Widerstandes gegen Unterdrückung, Gewalt und Unmenschlichkeit im Namen eines “Rechtsstaates, auf dem nicht herumgetrampelt werden dürfe”. Wie zynisch, verschlagen und heuchlerisch von euch ist es, sogar von Rechtsstaat und Gastfreundschaft zu sprechen angesichts eurer Lager-Mentalität und der Art und Weise, wie ihr mit den Flüchtlingen in diesen dreckigen Lagern umgeht.

Von eurer schamlosen, zweifelhaften und korrupten Kollaboration mit Diktatoren in ganz Afrika, einschließlich Togo, von wo dieser Flüchtling geflohen ist, sprechen wir hier gar nicht an erster Stelle. Ihr seid so aufrecht mit eurem Rechtsstaat, dass ihr Abkommen mit diesen Diktatoren erreicht und sie dafür bezahlt, dass sie im Gegenzug Milizen anstellen, um Männer, Frauen und Kinder zu brutalisieren und zu verstümmeln, die Zuflucht suchen von der gefährlichen Situation, die ihr durch eure ökonomischen Interessen gefördert habt. Wenn die Situation in diesen Lagern das ist, was ihr als Gastfreundschaft definiert, dann laden wir euch herzlich ein, in eines dieser Lager einzuchecken – ja, es gibt noch genug Platz für euch und eure Familien – und euren Aufenthalt zu genießen. Falls ihr zu feige seid, dieses Angebot anzunehmen, fordern wir euch in klaren Worten auf: Nehmt eure Gastfreundschaft und steckt sie euch sonstwo hin!

Die von der Polizei erhobenen Anschuldigungen von Aggression, Angriff und Gewalt, von denen in den Medien so ausführlich berichtet wurde, sind bislang nicht mehr als eine falsche Behauptung, da es bis zu dem Moment, in dem dieser Text verfasst wurde, keinen Beleg gibt, der diese Behauptungen mit Substanz füllen würde. Während es der Polizei gelungen ist, falsch zu informieren, und die Presse davongelaufen ist mit der Falschmeldung, dass die Flüchtlinge eine große Menge von Polizeibeamten verletzt hätte, konnte die Polizei offensichtlich offiziell lediglich bestätigen, dass nur ein Beamter leicht verletzt wurde
(see TAZ, 3.5.18 “Was geschah in Ellwangen?” www.taz.de/!5500584/). Schlimmer noch ist die Anschuldigung, dass die Flüchtlinge angeblich Waffen besessen hätten, die sich ebenfalls als rundweg falsch herausstellte.

Unfähig zu beweisen, dass die Flüchtlinge, wie behauptet, Gewalt anwandten, verlegte man sich darauf, den Begriff umzudefinieren und Nötigung mit Gewalt gleichzusetzen. Vielleicht muss die Polizei daran erinnert werden, was Gewalt ist: Es war Gewalt, als ihr Oury Jalloh in einer Polizeistation in Dessau an eine Matratze angebunden habt und ihn lebendig verbranntet. Es war Gewalt, als ihr Brechmittel in Laye Conde hineingepumpt habt und ihn dadurch in einer Polizeiwache in Bremen getötet habt, genauso wie Achidi John in Hamburg. Es war Gewalt, als ihr Dominique Kumadio in der Nähe seiner Wohnung in Dortmund erschossen habt, so wie ihr auch Christie Schwundeck auf dem Jobcenter in Frankfurt durch eure Schüsse getötet habt und Mariamme Sarr in Aschaffenburg. Es war Gewalt, als Polizisten Frauen, die abgeschoben werden sollten, vergewaltigten und dabei filmten, geschehen in einer Polizeistation in Bremen. Verstanden? Die Liste geht weiter!

Unserer Meinung nach sind insbesondere zwei Dinge hier nötig erwähnt zu werden. Erstens ist es wichtig, dies in die richtige Perspektive zu rücken und zu verstehen, dass es sich hier um ein von den Behörden sorgfältig geplantes und koordiniertes Bestreben handelt, den Widerstand von Flüchtlingen gegenüber Abschiebungen und ihre Solidarität miteinander zu brechen. Darüber hinaus dient es dazu, den politischen Deckmantel, die Legitimierung und Rechtfertigung für die ungerechtfertigte Gewalt und Brutalität zu liefern, die die Polizei höchstwahrscheinlich bei jedem zukünftigen Abschiebeversuch ausüben wird. Sie haben dies häufig öffentlich zugegeben und ihre Aktion am Donnerstag bestätigt dies. Aber man muss sehen, ob die Öffentlichkeit aufstehen wird, um den menschlichen Anstand und den Respekt gegenüber den Resten der Rechte von Flüchtlingen in diesem Land zu unterstützen oder ob sie sich der Manipulation unterwirft und durch diese dunklen Machenschaften hereingelegt wird. Für jeden, der in irgendeiner Weise in das einst allgegenwärtige und nun verschwindende “Refugees Welcome” einbezogen war, ist es jetzt Zeit, diese Oberflächlichkeit abzuwerfen und echt zu werden und Solidarität mit diesen verleumdeten Flüchtlingen zu zeigen.

Zweitens liegt nichts Kriminelles in dem Wunsch, ein sicheres und geschütztes Leben zu führen, unabhängig davon wie Deutschland und andere das heute sehen mögen. Millionen von Menschen emigrierten aus Deutschland/Europa, um ein besseres und sicheres Leben in anderen Ländern und Kontinenten zu suchen, also ist dies nichts Neues. Flüchtlinge sind genau aus diesem Grund in diesem Land und: “Wir sind hier, weil ihr unsere Länder zerstört!!!” Daher wird jeder Versuch, uns die Chancen zu verweigern, dies zu verwirklichen, mit Sicherheit auf Widerstand treffen. Aus diesem Grund wird der Widerstand von Flüchtlingen in Deutschland garantiert weitergehen, unabhängig von der Politik der deutschen und europäischen Behörden und unabhängig von der Anzahl der Polizisten und Polizistinnen und ihrer Fahrzeuge. Im Geiste dieses Widerstandes begrüßen wir die mutige Aktion der Flüchtlinge in Ellwangen.

Lang lebe der Widerstand!!!
Ziviler Ungehorsam in EllwangenFür die Freiheit, gegen Abschiebung
http://taz.de/!5503329/

The VOICE Refugee Forum

Turkey: State paramilitaries are destroying Syrian refugees’ tent homes in İzmir

As of February 8th, refugees living in tents in the Torbalı and Bayındır districts of İzmir are being evacuated in accordance with district governorate decisions through the intervention of its gendarmerie State paramilitary force. The tent areas are being removed. Thousands of refugees, who left their countries because of the civil war in Syria, have been struggling to survive as seasonal agricultural workers and living in the tent camps, constructed through their own efforts, in rural areas of İzmir.

Since Wednesday, many tent areas have been removed by gendarmerie without reason. Some tent areas were given until Monday to evacuate. Refugees whose assigned residence city is not İzmir have been expelled and people are being told they are expected to rent homes. However, for the majority of the refugees who work for very low wages it is not possible to earn enough money to move into a house.

In return for originally directing people to the tent areas and finding people jobs, “dayıbaşı” (the bosses of the areas) deduct money from refugees’ wages, pay irregularly or do not pay people at all. Since the agricultural workers need to live close to their working areas and don’t know the local language [Turkish], they are forced to accept the dayıbaşı system. Thus, being evacuated from their tents means taking away their means to an income.

What this means is that refugees who already left everything they had in Syria will, for a long time, now be unable to earn an income — demand for seasonal workers decreases in winter. They have survived through the cold weather thanks to tents, food, firing, diapers and hygiene products provided by a limited number of volunteers and CSO’s. The tent areas, which lack toilets, showers, clean water and  have been covered in mud from rainfall, are being ignored by the authorities.

These conditions affect children the most. Children are exposed to illnesses and developmental disabilities as a result of poor nutrition and health conditions. Hospitals deny treatment to refugees without documents. Even the death of baby Noaf, of pneumonia, after being refused hospital treatment did not impact government policy; which makes it particularly hard for refugees to get registered. And there are lots of children suffering from pneumonia in the camps. The threat of forced displacement by the gendarmerie further deepens the trauma of children, initially caused by the civil war and subsequent poor living conditions.

Last May, before the harvest, these tent areas providing a living space for nearly 2,000 people were removed by the district governorate. It is thought-provoking that the same action is now being taken just before seed-time, when the demand for seasonal workers increases. All this despite three years of speculation that the district governorate and municipality had plans to move people from the tent areas to one central place; to improve the living conditions of agricultural worker refugees.

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Greece: Hunger Strike in Elliniko Camp in Athens

Hunger Strike in Elliniko CampInfomobile Information with, about and for refugees in Greece

On 5th February 2017, most of the adults among the 711 refugees residing in a state-run Camp in the former Athens National Airport (Camp Elliniko II), in the majority coming from Afghanistan, started a hunger strike to protest against their degrading living conditions demanding for their transfer to homes, papers and freedom of movement for all. As reported by one of the refugees, it is very likely that residents of the two other camps in Elliniko (the nearby Olympic baseball and a hockey stadiums) might join in the protest tomorrow.

Among the 1,600 refugees living in the three camps of Elliniko there are some who are there already since one year. Elliniko Camp was opened already back in autoumn 2015, in a period where thousands were arriving to Greece and many stayed homeless in the parks and squares of Athens.
Planned as a temporary solution to ‘clear’ the capitals’ streets from the many homeless and repeatedly announced to be closed as belonging to one of the most infamous camps in Greece, it still stayed open until today, but always portrayed as ‘provisory’ under the UNHCR-category ‘informal site’.

Refugees used to live in the former airport throughout 2016 for months suffering under overcrowdedness, filthy insufficient toilettes and showers, inadequate food and without any information or legal aid. While the population has been reduced visible, the camp still is inadequate to host refugees and living conditions remain poor. Many highly vulnerable people still stay there. There are elderly, pregnant women, single mothers, people with mental health problems, people with chronic and
heavy diseases etc. In the meantime, many refugees are living there since one year.

Amongst others, refugees who started the protest complained about the quality of the food, lack of basic needs as for example milk and diapers for babies and toddlers, no hot water, no laundry, lack of translators for sick persons who have to go to hospital and no coverage of their transportation there. It is matter of survival, they state. They do not care about having more clothes or more food. But: food which doesnt’ make sick. Enough food, in order not to be hungry. Heating in order not to freeze.

“There are only a hand full of persons among us who speak English
and who can translate. They have to accompany anyone who gets sick to
the hospital, as the authorities and NGOs do not provide us with
translators for these purposes nor are there translators found in the
hospitals. We don’t even get the transportation costs re-funded for the
public transport used while accompanying some sick person. Some of us
got fined more than 30 times already for using the public transportation
without tickets. We will have severe problems in our asylum procedure,
to get an ID and passport, if recognized, if we have open fines to pay.
And they will increase successively if unpaid.”

Refugees living in Elliniko are suffering also mentally from the living conditions in the camp and their insecure situation in Greece and Europe.

“There are often fights. No one feels safe. People are in a
miserable state. they don’t know what to do. Many fear to stay forever
in Greece, where even Greek people cannot survive. There are no jobs,
there is no future. We fear European policies, which aim to increase
deportations of Afghans. Some of us have their relatives back in
Afghanistan. They cannot sleep at night, because they left them back in
conflict. There are people staying here who drink and fight. There is no
safety in the camp. There is no survival in Greece and there is no
safety in Afghanistan.”

More than 60% of the refugees in all three Elliniko Sites are women and
children

Amongst the refugee population in the camp are women with their kids awaiting their transfer to another European state where their husbands are. There are small kids with Asthma, like this 4-year-old girl who has to go to hospital almost every single night. People lock the doors to protect the salon from the cold, so no fresh air can enter. Many people smoke inside, others cook. The sewage water from the toilettes smells. So many get problems to breath. There is also a young man who had so
severe psychological problems, that he had to be transferred into the psychiatric clinic for a month. He was paranoid, thinking at any point someone wanted to kill him. He is taking medicaments now, but he is back in the camp, staying among 700 persons with his family. There is this pregnant lady in her 6th month, who often gets pains and has to visit the hospital again and again. She still lives there. Another woman just gave birth in there one month before. She is also still there.

Now, the refugees are trying to rase their voices to the world. They are already self-organised, having elected five representatives and holding plenaries since months. Now they want to provoke change, as they cannot suffer any longer.

“I am in danger in Afghanistan. I am even in danger in Greece. I was
told to get myself an appointment at the Asylum Service via Skpye, but
Skype isn’t responding.”

A woman holding a speech on the protest today said:

“We left Afghanistan because of the life-threatening situation and
for a future for our children. You closed the borders in front of us.
You locked us up in Greece. Now you are responsible to provide us with
what is needed to survive at least. Our children get sick here, and the
one doctor we have here for a few hours a day doesn’t give them medicine
but tell them to go an drink some water or some juice. We have the right
to have a good doctor, to have medicine. Even a pregnant woman gave
birth here, because the ambulance came so late.”

“There are mice in here. There is so much garbage outside. People
get sick from being here.”

Most adult refugees living in the camp attended the hunger strike today and plan to continue until the authorities, UNHCR and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) who are responsible in the camp listen and react to their demands:

– Open homes! Open the cities! Immediate evacuation of all into
dignified living conditions!

“We need to stay in the city and in our own rooms or flats. We don’t
want to be transferred to just another tent camp or prefab camp at the
margins of society! We want our children to go to school and we want to
go to work and earn our own living by ourselves in order to build up our
lives independently. We want to be free and participate in daily life as
all others do in this country.”

– Give papers and residence to stay to all refugees and allow anyone who
wants to move to another country to relocate legally and to join their
relatives! No discrimination of certain nationalities!

“The relocation program is discriminative. The right of free
movement should be given to all refugees. Many have their mothers,
fathers, brothers or sisters, their children or grandparents abroad.
Everybody has the right to be with his or her families. All people have
the right to live and work, somewhere, where it is possible to survive.
Even Greeks are searching for jobs outside of Greece. They are surviving
by returning to stay with their families. We have no one to help us
here, no one to open his or her house for us or to give us food. If
there is a chance to survive here, to find a job here, then we will
stay. As long as there isn’t, we should be allowed to move on legally.”

– Stop deportations to Turkey! Stop deportations to Greece! Stop
deportations to Afghanistan! Stop deportations to any unsafe countries!
The right to life for all!

“We fight for our rights. We fight for the rights of the others too.
The ones who are on the islands now, should be allowed to come to the
mainland, to seek asylum here, to stay here. Currently, people hardly
arrive to Greece anymore. The Turkish and the Greek Coast Guard,
together with the European Coast Guard fight refugees back on the sea
border. They stop them, from arriving to a place for asylum and
protection. The few who still come should be given a chance to stay.
Some of them who were allowed to move to the mainland arrive to Athens
without a place to stay. They are not permitted in the camps. Others
come to Athens without permit. They even have to return to the island.
We want freedom for all.”

“They want to start returning refugees who have been fingerprinted
here after March 15th of this year, back to Greece. No one can survive
here. We like to be in Greece. There are some nice people here, the
weather is good and the mentality of the Greeks is a little bit like our
own. But there are no jobs and there is no help for us. So how can we
find a home? How can we secure food for our kids? We also liked much
more to be in our homes in Afghanistan. But there is so safety but but
only war.”

“Europe is talking about the deportation of Afghans. Some countries
started already to return our people back even though their lives are in
danger in Afghanistan. Our president has signed a deal with Europe to
get money in exchange for taking refugees back. But our own politicians
keep their families in Europe for their own safety. European governments
advice their own citizens not to visit our country for safety reasons.
If we go back, we will die. Everybodys’ lives matter!”

Book Launch: Living in Refugee Camps in Berlin: Women*s Perspectives and Experiences

International Women Space BerlinPresentation, Reading and Discussion with authors

16.12.2016, 6pm at Werkstatt der Kulturen, seminar room 1, Wissmannstraße 32

In the summer and fall of 2015, the year that marked the beginning of what later became known as the “refugee crisis,” 1.1 million people arrived in Germany with the goal of seeking asylum. When taking a critical look at the way refugees are portrayed in media and public discourses in Germany, it is striking to note that the diversity – and the individuality – of these newly arrived persons is often reduced to certain stereotypes that go hand in hand with specific privileges and (moral) rights that are granted or denied them. Furthermore, women* are often absent in these images and discussions, and hence their specific experiences, realities, vulnerabilities and needs – not only during their flight but also after their arrival while living in refugee camps – often remain unaddressed.

This is all the more critical as according to the UNHCR, the percentage of refugee women* and children arriving in Greece and seeking asylum in the European Union increased from an estimated 27% in June 2015 to 55% in January 2016. This book provides insights into the various ways in which women* perceive of and experience their living conditions in five different asylum accommodation centers in Berlin. In particular, it explores how women* – who have fled from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Albania, and who have diverse socio-economic, linguistic and educational backgrounds – describe their lives in the camps with regard to health and care, administration and registration, social interactions and support, and safety and privacy.

The ethnographic research on which this book is based resulted from a collaboration between students and lecturers of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin and the Berlin-based group International Women’s Space. In this regard, the book aims to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of refugee women* in Berlin and simultaneously hopes to provide a model for anthropological engagement in the face of increasingly complex socio-political challenges.

December 16 on Friday, between 11 a.m. – 12 a.m. we will be live on air in F Radio on 88,4 Mhz in Berlin + 90,7 Mhz in Potsdam and on www.piradio.de to talk about the book just before the book launch.

Here is the link of the book launch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/345213105854357/

International Women Space

Summary of research findings in PDF:

„Starting below Zero“: On the Situation of Women* in Refugee Camps in Berlin

“Anfangen unter Null”: Zur Situation von geflüchteten Frauen in Berliner Sammel-Unterkünften

 

Call for Break Deportation – Refugee Camps Visit

Currently, many people come to Germany. We claim to welcome all of them as symbolized by the prevalent “Refugees Welcome”. According to German law, however, not all of those who flee their countries because of persecution, war, destruction or escaping disaster, for better living and for freedom of movement or other reasons are allowed to stay. They are being subjected to deportation intimidation, mental and psychological torture and racial discrimination. The reasons for their flight are not acknowledged and they are criminalized. In recent months, their legal situation has even worsened as a result of the tightened and toughened asylum laws that has rendered international protection in Germany meaningless. The list of the ever expanding so-called ‘safe countries’ of origin has been extended with the result that more groups of asylum seekers are threatened with deportations. Currently, these deportations are being carried out without warning, in the most inhumane way imaginable.

We are political activists who refuse to accept this inhuman practice ofall fight.preview the German state. Our network is called ‘Break Deportation’. We demand the right to stay for all and the immediate stop to all deportations. In order to achieve that, refugees must organize themselves in communities with other refugee groups like The VOICE Refugee Forum Jena and Roma Community Thueringen to inspire a broader community of refugees and strengthen the struggles, to empower and resist together with supporters as we unite against the Deportation System in Germany and Europe.

That’s why we want to get to know you! We plan to visit you during the coming months on a regular basis in your detention centres or prisons. We want to have an exchange with you on the current developments and to keep each other up to date. How is the situation in the detention centres, in the refugee camps and your homes? Have you heard of deportations or are you yourselves threatened with deportation? How can we together achieve that everyone will stay where they want? Get together, exchange views both among yourselves and with us!

Let us break the isolation and stop deportations together – Touch One Touch All!

Campaign for Political Self-Organisation of Refugees in Thueringen – Refugees in Germany are invited to join this Facebook group: Refugee-Migrants Political Community
Let us break the isolation and stop deportations together – Touch One Touch All!

More Information about the Network: http://breakdeportation.blogsport.de

Roma Thueringen, Gotthardtstraße 21, 4. Floor, 99084 Erfurt (Meetings on every Saturday at 7pm)
Email: roma-thueringen@posteo.de Facebook: Roma Thueringen

The VOICE Refugee Forum, Schillergaesschen 5, 07745 Jena (Meetings on every Thursday at 6pm),
Phone: 017624568988, Email.: thevoicerefugeeforum@riseup.net, http://thevoiceforum.org
Refugees in Germany are invited to join this Facebook group: Refugee-Migrants Political Community

Pressemitteilung: Syrische Frau wurde aus Notunterkunft in Berlin hinausgeworfen, weil sie ihre Menschrechte einforderte

 

vivianapic

English Version Below / versión española abajo

Syrian woman expelled from Berlin refugee camp for defending human rights

Mujer siria expulsada de un campamento para refugiados en Berlín por exigir derechos


 

Syrische Frau wurde aus Notunterkunft in Berlin hinausgeworfen, weil sie ihre Menschrechte einforderte

Vivian ist eine junge Frau aus Syrien. Sie ist vor dem Bürgerkrieg, der in ihrem Land tobt, und vor den Folgen, wie Arbeitslosigkeit, Hunger und sozialem Chaos geflohen. Alleine ist sie die Route aus dem Mittleren Osten nach Deutschland angetreten. Jedoch ist ihre Geschichte in Deutschland nicht von Zuflucht sondern (symbolischer) Gewalt, Erniedrigung, Frauenfeindlichkeit und Missbrauch geprägt. Die folgenden Ereignisse sind ihre Beschreibungen.

Eviction of the Refugee Protest Camp in Berlin

+ Camp urgently threatened by eviction + District mayor Monika Herman/Greens bears responsibility + Press conference on 25.11., 2 p.m. / Oranienplatz + Support needed! +

_DSC8982 - Kopie

Yesterday in the early evening the refugee camp was almost evicted by the police. The district mayor – Monika Herman/Greens – has ended the official tolerance of the protest camp and has asked the police for help with the eviction. Through a massive mobilization and a solidary crowd on the square, an eviction could be prevented for the moment. The district and the police say that the eviction will take place neither this night nor tomorrow early morning. But we cannot rely on that! It is clear that the camp is not protected anymore by the district and that the mayor is ready to destroy it. For questions and protest you can reach her directly: 0176/32376947. It is also clear that the camp is a disturbance to the government of Berlin. Even if the district will not proceed to evict it, the mayor of Berlin could do it instead.

PM (24.07.2013) vom Netzwerk Lager Eisenhüttenstadt – Protestierende Refugees und Unterstützer*Innen aus Berlin und Brandenburg

[english below]

+++ Usman Manir aus Abschiebehaft entlassen! +++ heutiges Refugee-Camp Anmeldung durch Polizei untersagt +++ Anmeldung ab Morgen mittag bis Samstag Abend +++

Wir sind erfreut über die Entlassung von Usman Manir aus der Abschiebehaft in Eisenhüttenstadt und werten dies als Erfolg unserer kontinuierlichen Arbeit! Wir werden jedoch weiter gegen die Zustände und Verantwortlichen der Eisenhüttenstädter Abschiebemaschinerie vorgehen.