Refugeecamp Berlin Info

We, refugees from various camps in Germany, united our local actions and set off to Berlin. Starting from Würzburg, we covered the distance of 600 km in about a month. Because of our visits to the refugee camps along the route, we were able to expose the isolation of the refugees, and invited them to leave their camps and to join our march. On another route, there was a bus tour.
For about three months we have been continuing our resistance with our tents at Oranienplatz in Berlin . Recently, we also occupied a vacant school. To this day, we have carried out many actions. We occupied consulates, carried out hunger strikes and continued our resistance through various means of action, like demonstrations or distributing flyers. During these actions, we became subject to police brutality and many people were arrested. We then organized sponataneous demonstrations to the prisons in which our friends had been arrested.
We made demonstrations with 700 participants in Erfurt, 1000 in Leipzig and 7000 in Berlin. The racist / fascist groups sometimes became anxious by our actions and tried to attack us, but they could not stop our reasonable and legitimate actions. We drove them away and continued on the streets.
Our freedom march and resistance has had a great impact. Parliament (Commitee of the Interior) was forced to meet with us. During the meeting, the two major parties spoke out against our demands. However there were also MPs who supported us. But with regard to our three main demands, the necessary steps haven´t been taken yet. Only the obligation of residence (“Residenzpflicht”) was abolished in some federal states.
We have managed to draw attention to the existing racist measures, such as refugee camps (Lager), the obligation of residence, the deportations, the food vouchers, etc. that make up the capitalist isolation system, and to put them on society´s political agenda.
While other people have been preparing for Christmas, New Year and other festivities, we continue our resistance on Oranienplatz. Again, we declare that we intend to fight
the laws and policies that violate our freedom and dignity.
We want to create a center for the political resistance of the refugees. To achieve this goal, we use the occupied school and Oranienplatz. We call for the recognition of the refugee movement as a political institution.
Our resistance movement of the refugees collected a lot of material until now. Movies have been made about our resistance. Every day we ´ve documented what we do and how we fight, producing many flyers and posters for distribution. Now, we work to bring more refugees to join our struggle and to expand the base of our social support. We will continue to visit other camps.
We call on all refugees to take to the streets in favour of liberty and dignity and to join our resistance. The struggle against the capitalist isolation system is an important fight for our future. We do not want to live in the refugee camps, in which we were isolated. We do not want to be victims of racist measures. We want to establish a free life on the streets. We want to connect our struggle with all anti-capitalist and anti-fascist forces, with all our comrades in the streets of the world. We do not want to pay the bill for the wars and crises of the capitalist-imperialist system.

On the streets for freedom and dignity!
Abolition of compulsory residence!
Close all refugee camps!
Stop all deportations!

Long live our struggle for humanity and sisterhood and brotherhood!

It gotten a little quiet around the refugeecamp, this is why a 15-minute-livestream from the Pariser Platz at Brandenburg Gate launched yesterday (by CastorTV). Starting at 3PM every day.

via @enough14

Concerning the meeting at the Innenausschuss of Bundestag on the 22nd of November 2012, the delegates of the refugees in Berlin declare:

Taking part in the meeting today is a result of eight months of ongoing protest of refugees in Germany. It is unfortunate that these protests, the building of camps and the hunger- strikes, were necessary to achieve first dialogues with the politicians in charge. Though we have received dismissive statements by German parliamentarians regarding our demands we have decided to participate in the meeting today and to continue putting our demands on the agenda, to constitute and to strengthen them.

Due to the limited time of this first meeting not all of our points can be discussed in detail. Thus it can only be the first but not the last meeting. Indeed, much more refugees need to have the opportunity to speak for themselves about their inhuman and unbearable situation with responsible politicians and to call urgently for solutions.

No one escapes for fun! There are always political reasons.

We demand the legal recognition of all refugees as political refugees!

All refugees are human beings! We are here because you are destroying our world! We did not choose to be here!

We are in this situation as a consequence of the politics of Germany and of other leading European countries: The prosperity of the industrialized countries is based on the continuation of colonialism, the never ending reproduction of poverty, corruption, lobbying and the collaboration of Germany with authoritarian regimes. The export of wars and the maximizing of national profit through arms industry are further important factors.

We are not here to ask for but to claim our demands!

Today we want to focus on three main demands:

End “Residenzpflicht”

No one has the right to take away mobility from people, to isolate them in camps and to exclude them from societal participation.

End “Flüchtlingslager”

The compulsory housing of refugees in mass accommodations is inhumane. Every person has the right of self chosen accommodation. A perpetuation of the camps or a mere cosmetic upgrading of standards are no solution. Save the money and invest it in sufficient and affordable housing space for everyone!

Stop deportation

No one is illegal. We refuse to be divided into different categories due to the reasons of our escape and to be played off against each other.

Our demands are crucial in order to ensure cultural and social participation and to realize human dignity as a basic right. More demands have to be discussed in future negotiations, concerning the securing of livelihood as well as a self-determined life with financial independence instead of goods or vouchers. This implies an abolishment of the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (special law for asylum seekers).

We want to thank those politicians who were engaged in our struggle as well as all people who have been taking part in our protest throughout the past weeks in solidarity.

At the same time we constantly had to deal with fascist and racist campaigns and ideologies. It needs to be pointed out that those arguments are based on discriminating patterns of thought that are widely shared by the public, the medias and by parts of the German government. This way prejudices, clichés and fears are reproduced and enhanced.

To fight racism means to abolish all racist and discriminative laws. Start this today!

Once again we declare our solidarity with the Roma people who are currently facing the threat of deportation. We demand the immediate stop of all deportations as well as the abolishment of the inhumane so called ‘Direktverfahren’ that make it effectively impossible to get asylum. By demanding a faster asylum procedure we do not aim at faster deportations as implied in the ‘Direktverfahren’.

Napuli Paul Langa Farid Mirzaie Mansureh Komeigani Yahya Fall

Translation of a german blog post by @Halina_Waw , member of the Bundestag. Published November 22, 2012, 9:25 PM

A dozen members of the Parliament participated in the talk with the refugees who were protesting at the Brandenburg Gate and the Oranienplatz, and part of the Home Affairs Committee of the Bundestag. 3 of them were sent by the coalition, the minority.

Frau Böhmer, who also attended the meeting, made clear that the interview was scheduled on her own initiative, and explained again how it came to the interview in early November, and her perception of what their former agreement was. They will present the concerns of the refugees in the integration conference and write a letter to the country’s interior and – ministers of justice so that the refugees must not bear any negative consequences from the breach of the duty of residence. She fulfilled their promise. Aha. Silence was remained on her behalf on sending this letter and any reaction to it. At least not as long as I was able to participate in the conversation. But I can ask parliament.

The four refugees began the conversation by reading a press release written by them. They made it clear that they are delegates of the protesting refugees. They demanded that this should not be the last talk and it still must exist for many more refugees the opportunity to raise their concerns. They presented their demands (abolition of compulsory residence, deportation, removal Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz). They pointed out that they were confronted with racism and refugee movements are also related with colonial politics.

This self-confidence was too much for the minority consisting of the coalition members. Confident refugees that did not beg but demanded equal treatment was probably something completely new for this minority. The refugees were stopped, they were informed that a propaganda campaign against the federal government does not help. They were asked who had actually written the text. For the minority, it apparently seems inconceivable that the refugees themselves write political texts. If someone adopted this text as their own, then they would reconsider even taking part in the conversation.

[Note: Apparently they thought some activsts/movement had put words in their mouths]

One of the refugees now said that it was a collective text from the protesting refugees. It is the result of their experiences, they would now like to talk about their demands. One did not walk 600 km to then write a letter to please not get any problems for breaching of the duty of residence, but to draw attention to the situation and demand a change.

The reaction of the minority was to point out that it is not the first time they speak with refugees and that they have already visited central receiving camps, and repeats the statements from the current hour to the issue of refugees, whose writing I (because they are so unbearable) refuse now. The whole was complemented by pointing out it was a privilege to speak with members of the parliament, currently 4,000 refugees arrive each month, mainly Sinti and Roma, who are not subject to political persecution and it was wrong that colonial policy was a cause of flight.

Mrs Böhmer joined in again on the conversation and said that in their last talk, they had agreed that the refugees stick to describing their situation. The agreement was not to present political propaganda. One should still adhere the mutual agreements. Of a comment of this, I abstain now at this point.

In fact, the refugees then described the situation in which they find themselves. Constantly interrupted with the question of whether they are now talking about yourself or others. Although it should be so hard not understand for the minority as well that when the four lead the conversation as delegates of the refugees, of course they are not merely speaking about their own personal situation.

Unfortunately, I had to leave. According to press reports, the Chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee rejected the demands of the refugees. This is not a surprise, in my view, and to be expected. Sadly. But I have a tip for the minority. If they really are interested in the situation of refugees, they can meeth them at the Brandenburg Gate and at Oranienplatz. Although bit more humility and a little less german arrogance than today at German Interior Committee would be appropriate and helpful there.

German article on the refugeecamp and their meeting today with members of the Bundestag

The refugees who departed in October in Würzburg and have stayed in protest camps in Berlin for weeks - one in front of the Brandenburg Gate, one in Kreuzberg - have written a success story. First they won a petty fight with the Berlin police, who took away mattresses and tents from the hunger strike protesters when the Berlin nights got colder. The mayor of the district of Berlin-Mitte sent buses where they could sleep. Then Maria Böhmer (CDU) came, integration representative of the federal government, and said after a four hours-long meeting with the refugees, it was the most moving interview during her mandate. The refugees ended the hunger strike hereupon.

Mrs Böhmer promised to push for a meeting of members of the Bundestag. This is supposed to take place this Thursday now. For now, the group wanted to stay at the Brandenburg Gate, in order to draw attention to the situation of refugees in Germany. They resumed their hunger strike to show members pof the parliament just how serious they are.

Comment on the article:

The bus was not sent by the district of Berlin-Mitte (Christian Hanke), it was organized privately. Hanke sent a small van with 6 seats for the 15 refugees that was sent away shortly after the current bus was organized.

via @carridwen @KapuzenAuf