Month: September 2020

We remember Amed Ahmad

Movements

We remember Amed Ahmad
died on 29 September 2018 under circumstances as yet unknown

Statement as PDF file

Hier findet ihr die Stellungnahme in
deutscher Sprache als PDF

Amed* Ahmad fled from the war in Syria and lived in Geldern, Germany. On 6 July 2018 he was arrested without reason. He was deprived of his freedom for 73 days until he was burned in his cell in the Kleve prison on 17 September 2018 under circumstances as yet unknown. He spent 12 days in hospital. His parents, who live in Bonn, were not notified during this time. They only learned of their son’s death through the media. We cannot forget the death of Amed Ahmad and other victims of racist police brutality. We can no longer silently endure the lies. We do not want a future in which our children are hunted, beaten, insulted or murdered. Racism is not just a police problem, but of a society which has to deal with racist crimes and tolerates and plays down misconduct.

*In the press and public erroneously in the past
uses the spelling “Amad Ahmad” or “Ahmed Amad”.

BREAK THE SILENCE

to the prison in Geldern-Pont. On 10 July 2018 he is transferred to the prison in Kleve. On 17 September 2018 his cell burns down. Amed Ahmad is transported by ambulance to the Saint Anthony Hospital in Kleve. He is not stationed there, but is taken by helicopter to the hospital in Duisburg. One week later, on 24 September 2020, he will be put into an artificial coma and taken to the Bergmannsheil Hospital in Bochum. On 29 September he dies after a lung transplantation. These are the known facts that cannot be discussed.
When, after Amed Ahmad’s death, the public learned of his innocence and the illegal deprivation of liberty, the Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr Reul, promised clarification and apologised to Amed Ahmad’s family members. Attempts at explanation followed and a chain of errors was constructed. However, the case became more and more confused.
Allegedly he would have been arrested because on 6 July 2018 four young women felt threatened by him in broad daylight at the quarry pond. Police officers are not informed by an emergency call, but by the call of one of the young women, the daughter of a policeman, and come to the quarry pond. In the small town of Geldern, the policemen know the young people, probably also Amed Ahmad. In retrospect, the policemen on the investigative committee say they have found similarities to a wanted offender. Therefore they transfer Amed Ahmad from police custody in Geldern to the prison in Geldern-Pont. Although it was established on 10 July that he was not the wanted perpetrator, he still has to remain in prison.
Later it is claimed that he was confused with another wanted person of a different colour, from another country. But since 27 July 2018 at the latest, the police officers in Kleve know that this cannot be the case. A public prosecutor from Braunschweig, entrusted with the case and investigating it, informs the police in Kleve that the person Amed Ahmad is not identical with the wanted person A.G.

The facts

So why must Amed Ahmad continue to be in prison? If you try to follow the arguments of the authorities, the investigating officials, the parliamentary investigation committee, and the journalists, none of it makes sense. Especially not because Amed Ahmad’s data was manipulated two days before his arrest. Already on 4 July 2018, two days before his arrest, Amed Ahmad’s data is linked with that of the wanted person A. G. and merged into one data set. Both persons become one person in the police databases, but with two skin colours and two faces. It is still not clear from whom the officer in Siegen received the order to link the data. Her superior was already retired and no longer on duty. Furthermore, on the day before his arrest in Geldern, Amed Ahmad’s data is called up in the police computer several times before one of the young women allegedly called her father, the police officer, for help. Why? Why are the young man’s data first manipulated in the days before his arrest and then called up several times before an alleged call for help is made unofficially. These alleged chains of error can only be classified as chains of error if no other possibilities are allowed. In the case of Oury Jalloh, we had to fight for several years for the facts to be acknowledged and another, probably possible truth to be discussed. However, to this day the official authorities not only refuse to accept this truth, but actively suppress the most probable of all variants, namely the burning of Oury Jalloh with the help of fire accelerators by third parties in police custody. Evidence was destroyed and manipulated. Those who destroyed the evidence, manipulated procedures and deceived the interested public have been promoted and those who sought to shed light have been discredited. So is another version of the events in the case of Amed Ahmad possible?

The open questions

Is it possible that some of the officials in Geldern wanted to choose the 26-year-old refugee, settle a personal score or punish him? Is it possible that through their networks they have had the data falsified? Is it possible that on the same day they checked whether the data had been altered before arresting Amed Ahmad? Is it possible that they wanted to set an example and kept him in prison in any case? Is it even possible that a fire was set in his cell?

Is another version alike the murder case of Oury Jalloh or others possible?

Can these questions be asked by officials, politicians, journalists who have not had visible and hidden psychological and physical scars from their previous encounters with racist police officers? We say no, because these questions are not conceivable, just as they were not conceivable in the cases of Oury Jalloh, Achidi John, Laye Alama Konde, Maryama Sarr, Christy Omordion Schwundeck, Halim Dener, Dominique Kouamadio, Dr. Zdravko Nikolov Dimitrov, Hussam Fadl, … and most recently in Essen in the case of Mikael Haile and Adel. But if you ask those who were beaten, insulted or brutally beaten up by police officers in Essen this year alone, then these possibilities can no longer be ruled out.

The consistent inconsistencies

It is not only since the NSU or NSU2.0 that we have been aware of the cooperation of known right-wing terrorists with police officers. It is not only since NSU2.0 that we know that data is being tapped and manipulated. So why are the data manipulated two days before Amed Ahmad’s death and on the day of his arrest, but before his arrest, the data is accessed several times? Why then are we told that he was arrested for sexual harassment? Then he is deprived of his freedom because he has been confused first with one person and then with another? Here, as in other cases, the official state institutions seem to follow the same pattern as in the Oury Jalloh case and many others: In their investigations, they follow the chain of events with the lowest probability of occurrence and present it to us as chains of error. How far do we have to drill so that, as in the case of Oury Jalloh, we learn all about the truth that is not mentioned in any file or court note?
In what racist quagmire such deeds can happen, we unfortunately do not need to invent, but can observe it every day on the street, in the news and in our neighbourhood. The death of Amed Ahmad and that of Mikael Haile in Essen in the same year or other victims of racist police brutality can only be understood and grasped in the context of racist discourses in society. Such acts can continue to occur because the perpetrators in earlier cases have escaped punishment and receive support up to the highest leadership of their state, be it in Saxony-Anhalt or North Rhine-Westphalia, in covering up the acts.

The criminalization of our being

It was not only on 6 July 2018 that the so-called “welcome culture” of 2015 was transformed into a culture of rejection and agitation. People follow hate preachers and shout: “Push them off!”, “Shoot them at the borders!” or “Dispose of them in Anatolia! The tone has become rougher. Racism is emerging uninhibitedly and racists are daily on the talk shows and chase the bourgeois parties. But these bourgeois parties themselves have previously criminalised different communities one after the other in order to overtake the other racists on the right: police operations in the so-called “Maghreb quarter” in Düsseldorf, incitement against “poverty migrants” from Eastern Europe, suspicion of young men from Afghanistan, … criminalisation of refugees who peacefully fight back in Ellwangen, the use of the word “asylum tourism” for people in need … criminalisation was and is the order of the day. A climate is created in which racist crimes can take place. Crocodile tears are shed after the multiple murders in Hanau and everyone is pointing their index fingers at the AfD, but the same politicians have for years criminalised the shisha bars here in NRW and constructed the term “clan crime”. So who are the arsonists of Hanau?

Our everyday experiences and the determination of our struggles

We ask, would we have experienced fewer chains of error if the Dessau case of Oury Jalloh, Mario Bichtermann and Jürgen Rose had been fully and completely clarified? Would Amed Ahmad now be among us and perhaps tell us about the evening breeze in his homeland? Would Mikael Haile and Adel from Essen be among us? The chains of errors, gaps and lies were not brought to public attention by the German legal system and institutions, but by our resistance and struggles. We asked the questions, challenged society and denounced the system. These questions go through our hearts and minds and as long as the contradictions are not plausibly clarified, we have no choice but to say:

Amed Ahmad, that was murder!

Together we are stronger than the hate preachers and dividers can imagine.

In solidarity we remain united with all those who engage every day for a better world without exploitation, wars, racism, in other words a humane world based on solidarity. That is why we in our region will try, together with all our interested friends, to work for the clarification not only of the death of Amed Ahmad, but also of the deaths of Mikael Haile and Adel from Essen.

CARAVAN for the rights of refugees and migrants
Wuppertal office
Marienstr. 52 | 42105 Wuppertal
Email: wuppkarawane@yahoo.de
Internet: http://thecaravan.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karawanewuppertal

Wir gedenken Amed Ahmad

Movements

Wir gedenken Amed Ahmad
gestorben am 29. September 2018 unter bisher ungeklärten Umständen

Erklärung als PDF-Datei

Here you find the statement in
English language as PDF

Amed* Ahmad floh vor dem Krieg in Syrien und lebte in Geldern. Am 6. Juli 2018 wurde er grundlos verhaftet. 73 Tage wurde er seiner Freiheit beraubt, bis er am 17. September 2018 in der JVA Kleve unter bisher ungeklärten Umständen in seiner Zelle verbrannte. 12 Tage verbrachte er im Krankenhaus. Seine in Bonn lebenden Eltern wurden in dieser Zeit nicht benachrichtigt. Sie erfuhren erst durch die Medien vom Tod ihres Sohnes. Wir können den Tod von Amed Ahmad und anderer Opfer rassistischer Polizeibrutalität nicht vergessen. Wir können nicht mehr stillschweigend die Lügen ertragen. Wir wollen keine Zukunft, in der unsere Kinder gejagt, geschlagen, beleidigt oder ermordet werden. Rassismus ist nicht nur ein Problem der Polizei, sondern einer Gesellschaft, die rassistische Verbrechen und Fehlverhalten duldet und verharmlost.

*In der Presse und Öffentlichkeit wurde
fälschlicherweise in der Vergangenheit
die Schreibweise „Amad Ahmad“ oder „Ahmed Amad“ benutzt.

BREAK THE SILENCE

Am 6. Juli 2018 wird Amed Ahmad von der Polizei in Geldern festgenommen. Am selben Abend wird er in die Justizvollzugsanstalt nach Geldern-Pont verlegt. Am 10. Juli 2018 wird er dann in das Gefängnis in Kleve verlegt. Am 17. September 2018 brennt seine Zelle. Per Krankenwagen wird Amed Ahmad in das Sankt-Antonius Krankenhaus in Kleve transportiert. Dort wird er nicht stationiert, sondern mit einem Hubschrauber in das Klinikum Duisburg gebracht. Eine Woche später am 24. September 2020 wird er in das künstliche Koma versetzt und in das Klinikum Bergmannsheil nach Bochum gebracht. Am 29. September stirbt er nach einer Lungentransplantation. Das sind die bekannten und nicht diskutierbaren Fakten.
Als nach dem Tod Amed Ahmads die Öffentlichkeit von seiner Unschuld und der rechtswidrigen Freiheitsberaubung erfuhr, versprach der Innenminister Nordrhein-Westfalens, Herr Reul, Aufklärung und entschuldigte sich bei den Familienangehörigen von Amed Ahmad. Es folgten Erklärungsversuche und eine Fehlerkette wurde konstruiert. Der Fall wurde aber immer konfuser.

Angeblich wäre er festgenommen worden, weil sich am 6. Juli 2018 vier jungen Frauen am helllichten Tage am Baggersee von ihm bedroht fühlten. Polizisten werden nicht durch einen Notruf, sondern durch den Anruf einer der jungen Frauen, der Tochter eines Polizisten, verständigt und kommen zum Baggersee. In dem kleinen Ort Geldern kennen die Polizisten die Jugendlichen, wahrscheinlich auch Amed Ahmad. Im Nachhinein sagen die Polizisten im Untersuchungsausschuss Ähnlichkeiten zu einem gesuchten Täter festgestellt zu haben. Deswegen verlegen sie Amed Ahmad vom Polizeigewahrsam in Geldern in die JVA nach Geldern-Pont. Obwohl am 10. Juli feststand, dass er nicht der gesuchte Täter ist, muss er weiterhin sitzen.

Später wird behauptet, er wäre mit einer anderen gesuchten Person anderer Hautfarbe, aus einem anderen Land verwechselt worden. Doch spätestens seit dem 27. Juli 2018 wissen die Polizisten in Kleve, dass dies nicht der Fall sein kann. Eine mit dem Fall betraute und ermittelnde Staatsanwältin aus Braunschweig informiert die Polizei in Kleve, dass die Person Amed Ahmad nicht mit der gesuchten Person A.G. identisch sei.

Die Fakten

Warum muss also Amed Ahmad weiterhin im Gefängnis sitzen? Versucht man den Argumentationen der Behörden, der ermittelnden Beamten, dem Untersuchungsausschuss, und den Journalisten zu folgen, ergibt alles kein Sinn. Vor allem nicht, weil die Daten von Amed Ahmad bereits zwei Tage vor seiner Festnahme manipuliert sind. Bereits am 4. Juli 2018, also zwei Tage vor seiner Verhaftung, werden die Daten von Amed Ahmad mit denen der gesuchten Person A. G. verknüpft und zu einem Datensatz verschmolzen. Beide Personen werden in den Datenbanken der Polizei zu einer Person jedoch mit zwei Hautfarben und mit zwei Gesichtern. Bis heute ist nicht klar, von wem die Beamtin in Siegen den Auftrag erhielt, die Daten miteinander zu verknüpfen. Ihr Vorgesetzter war bereits in der Rente und nicht mehr im Dienst. Weiterhin werden am Tag vor seiner Verhaftung in Geldern mehrmals die Daten von Amed Ahmad im Polizeicomputer aufgerufen, bevor angeblich eine der jungen Frauen ihren Vater, den Polizeibeamten nach Hilfe rief. Warum? Warum werden die Daten des jungen Mannes in den Tagen vor seiner Verhaftung erst manipuliert und dann mehrmals aufgerufen, bevor ein angeblicher Hilferuf inoffiziell erfolgt. Diese angeblichen Fehlerketten können nur als Fehlerketten eingestuft werden, wenn keine anderen Möglichkeiten zugelassen werden. Im Falle Oury Jalloh mussten wir mehrere Jahre dafür kämpfen, dass die Fakten anerkannt und eine andere, wahrscheinlich mögliche Wahrheit, auch diskutiert werden konnte. Doch bis heute verweigern sich die offiziellen Stellen nicht nur dieser Wahrheit, sondern verdrängen aktiv die wahrscheinlichste unter allen Varianten, nämlich die Verbrennung von Oury Jalloh mit Hilfe von Brandbeschleunigern durch Dritte in Polizeigewahrsam. Beweise wurden vernichtet und manipuliert. Diejenigen, die die Beweise vernichtet, Verfahren manipuliert und die interessierte Öffentlichkeit hintergangen haben, sind befördert und diejenigen, die aufklären wollten, sind diskreditiert worden. Ist also eine andere Version der Ereignisse im Falle Amed Ahmads möglich?

Die offenen Fragen

Ist es möglich, dass einige der Beamten in Geldern sich den 26-jährigen Flüchtling ausgesucht haben, eine persönliche Rechnung begleichen oder ihn bestrafen wollten? Ist es möglich, dass sie durch ihre Netzwerke die Daten haben fälschen lassen? Ist es möglich, dass sie am selben Tag geprüft haben, ob die Daten auch verändert worden sind, bevor sie Amed Ahmad verhaftet haben? Ist es möglich, dass sie ein Exempel statuieren wollten und ihn auf jeden Fall im Gefängnis behalten wollten? Ist es gar möglich, dass in seiner Zelle ein Brand gelegt worden ist?

Ist eine andere Version wie im unter anderem im Mordfall von OURY Jalloh möglich?

Können diese Fragen durch Beamte, Politiker, Journalisten gestellt werden, die bisher keine sichtbaren und versteckten psychischen und physischen Narben durch ihre bisherigen Begegnungen mit rassistischen Polizeibeamten gehabt haben? Nein sagen wir, denn diese Fragen sind nicht vorstellbar, genauso wenig, wie sie in den Fällen von Oury Jalloh, Achidi John, Laye Alama Konde, Maryama Sarr, Christy Omordion Schwundeck, Halim Dener, Dominique Kouamadio, Dr. Zdravko Nikolov Dimitrov, Hussam Fadl, … und zuletzt in Essen im Falle von Mikael Haile und Adel vorstellbar waren. Fragen sie aber diejenigen, die von den Beamten in Essen allein in diesem Jahr geschlagen, beleidigt, brutal zusammengeschlagen waren, dann sind auch diese Möglichkeiten nicht mehr auszuschließen.

Die konsistenten Ungereimtheiten

Nicht erst seit der NSU oder NSU2.0 ist uns die Zusammenarbeit von bekannten rechten Terroristen mit Polizeibeamten bekannt. Nicht erst seit der NSU2.0 wissen wir, dass Daten angezapft und manipuliert werden. Warum werden also bereits zwei Tagen vor dem Tod von Amed Ahmad die Daten manipuliert und am Tag seiner Verhaftung aber vor der Festnahme die Daten mehrmals aufgerufen? Warum wird dann erzählt, er sei wegen sexueller Belästigung festgenommen worden? Dann wird er seiner Freiheit beraubt, weil er zuerst mit der einen und dann mit einer anderen Person verwechselt worden ist? Hier wie in anderen Fällen scheinen die Beamten dem gleichen Muster wie im Falle Oury Jalloh und vielen anderen zu folgen: Sie verfolgen in ihren Untersuchungen die Kette der Ereignisse mit den geringsten Wahrscheinlichkeiten und tischen es uns als Fehlerketten auf. Wieweit müssen wir bohren, damit wie im Falle Oury Jalloh alles über die Wahrheit erfahren, welche in keiner Akte und Gerichtsnotiz Erwähnung findet?
In welchem rassistischen Sumpf solche Taten geschehen können, brauchen wir leider nicht zu erfinden, sondern können es tagtäglich auf der Straße, in den Nachrichten und in unserer Nachbarschaft beobachten. Der Tod von Amed Ahmad und der von Mikael Haile im gleichen Jahr in Essen oder andere Opfer von rassistischer Polizeibrutalität können nur im Kontext der rassistischen Diskurse in der Gesellschaft verstanden und begriffen werden. Solche Taten können weiterhin geschehen, weil die Täter in früheren Fällen straffrei davonkommen und in der Vertuschung der Taten Unterstützungen bis zur höchsten Führung ihres Landes, sei es in Sachsen-Anhalt oder Nordrheinwestfalen erhalten.

Die Kriminalisierung unseres Daseins

Nicht erst am 6. Juli 2018 hat sich die sogenannte „Willkommenskultur“ von 2015 in eine Abweisungs- und Hetzkultur verwandelt. Menschen folgen Hasspredigern und rufen: „Schiebt sie ab!“, „Erschießt sie an den Grenzen!“ oder „Entsorgt sie in Anatolien!“. Der Ton ist rauer geworden. Der Rassismus tritt enthemmt zutage und Rassisten sind täglich in den Talksendungen und jagen die bürgerlichen Parteien. Doch diese bürgerlichen Parteien selbst haben zuvor unterschiedliche Gemeinschaften einen nach dem anderen kriminalisiert, um die anderen Rassisten rechts zu überholen: Polizeioperationen im sogenannten „Maghrebviertel“ in Düsseldorf, Hetze gegen „Armutsmigranten“ aus Osteuropa, Verdächtigung junger Männer aus Afghanistan, … Kriminalisierung von Flüchtlingen, die sich friedlich in Ellwangen zur Wehr setzen, die Verwendung des Wortes „Asyltourismus“ für Menschen in Not … die Kriminalisierung war und ist an der Tagesordnung. Es wird ein Klima erzeugt, in welchem rassistische Verbrechen stattfinden können. Krokodilstränen fließen nach dem mehrfachen Mord in Hanau und alle zeigen mit den Zeigefingern auf die AfD, doch dieselben Politiker haben jahrelang hier in NRW die Shisha Bars kriminalisiert und den Begriff der „Klankriminalität“ konstruiert. Wer sind also die Brandstifter von Hanau?

Unsere Alltagserfahrungen und der Entschlossenheit unsere Kämpfe

Wir fragen, hätten wir weniger Fehlerketten erlebt, wenn der Dessauer Fall von Oury Jalloh, Mario Bichtermann und Jürgen Rose vollständig und lückenlos aufgeklärt worden wäre? Würde Amed Ahmad nun unter uns weilen und vielleicht von der abendlichen Brise in seiner Heimat erzählen? Würden Mikael Haile und Adel aus Essen unter uns weilen? Die Fehlerketten, Lücken und Lügen wurden nicht durch das deutsche Rechtsystem und die Institutionen, sondern durch unsere Widerstandskämpfe in die Öffentlichkeit gebracht. Wir haben die Fragen gestellt, die Gesellschaft herausgefordert und das System angeprangert. Diese Fragen gehen durch unsere Herzen und Köpfe und solange nicht plausibel die Widersprüche aufgeklärt werden, bleibt uns nichts anderes übrig, als zu sagen:

Amed Ahmad, das war Mord!

Zusammen sind wir stärker als die Hassprediger und Spalter es sich vorstellen können.

In Solidarität bleiben wir verbunden mit allen, die sich tagtäglich für eine bessere Welt ohne Ausbeutung, Kriege, Rassismus, also eine menschliche und solidarische Welt einsetzen. Deswegen werden wir in unserer Region versuchen, gemeinsam mit allen interessierten Freundinnen und Freunden uns für die Aufklärung nicht nur des Todes von Amed Ahmad einzusetzen, sondern auch für die Aufklärung der Tode von Mikael Haile und Adel aus Essen.

KARAWANE für die Rechte der Flüchtlinge und MigrantInnen
Büro Wuppertal
Marienstr. 52 | 42105 Wuppertal
E-Mail: wuppkarawane@yahoo.de
Internet: http://thecaravan.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karawanewuppertal

Kundgebung zum 4. Todestag von Hussam Fadl



Berlin

KOP – Kampagne für Opfer rassistischer Polizeigewalt – und die Kampagne Gerechtigkeit für Hussam Fadl rufen anlässlich des 4. Todestages von
Hussam Fadl zu einer Kundgebung auf.

Sonntag: 27.09.2020 um 15:00 Uhr auf dem Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg

Vor vier Jahren, am 27.09.2016, wurde Hussam Fadl von der Berliner

Polizei von hinten erschossen. Die Ermittlungen im Fall von Hussam Fadl
wurden unzureichend und wenig sorgfältig geführt – der Verdacht liegt
mehr als nah, dass wieder einmal ein Fall tödlicher rassistischer
Polizeigewalt verschleppt werden soll. Das wollen wir nicht hinnehmen!

Deshalb treffen wir uns am 27.09.2020 um 15 Uhr auf dem Oranienplatz in
Kreuzberg. Wir gedenken Hussam Fadl und allen Toten rassistischer
Polizeigewalt und fordern Aufklärung und Anklageerhebung gegen die
Todesschützen!

Gemeinsam mit euch bauen wir öffentlichen Druck auf, denn Hussam Fadl
war kein Einzelfall!

Zusammen werden wir das Radiofeature “Vier Schüsse und das Schweigen
danach” hören. Es erzählt vielstimmig die Geschichte von Hussam Fadl und
den weiteren Vorgängen. Das Feature** ist auf deutsch und dauert ungefähr eine Stunde, also bringt euch was zu sitzen und eure Nachbarinnen und Freundinnen mit!

Feature
VIER SCHÜSSE UND DAS SCHWEIGEN DANACH

26.09.2020 Berlin: Demo für Familiennachzug

Berlin

von Initiativen für Familienleben für Alle

Familientrennung beenden!

Während das Auswärtige Amt auf Grund von Covid-19 gestrandete Urlauber*innen in einer aufwändigen Rückholaktion von überall her zu ihren Familien nach Hause brachte, wird der Familiennachzug zu in Deutschland als Flüchtling anerkannten Eritreer*innen systematisch verhindert: Familien warten monatelang, bis sie überhaupt einen Termin zur Visumsantragstellung bei einer deutschen Botschaft erhalten, und dann vergehen viele weitere Monate bis die Anträge bearbeitet werden. Sehr häufig scheitert der Familiennachzug schließlich an den unzumutbaren und unerfüllbaren Anforderungen, welche die deutschen Botschaften an die Nachweise der familiären Bindung und Identität der Angehörigen stellen.

Das Auswärtige Amt weiß von der großen Not der Familien – alle Anfragen zum Thema Familiennachzug Eritrea stoßen dort jedoch auf taube Ohren.

Deshalb gehen wir wieder auf die Straße und fordern:

  • Die familienfeindliche Politik des Auswertigen Amtes muss beendet werden!
  • Die deutschen Behörden müssen die Unzumutbarkeit der Dokumentenbeschaffung aus Eritrea anerkennen und stattdessen individuelle Nachweise der Familienzusammengehörigkeit (z.B. religiöse Urkunden oder Familienfotos) akzeptieren! Nach der EU-Familienzusammenführungsrichtlinie darf ein Antrag auf Familiennachzug nicht allein wegen fehlender Nachweise abgelehnt werden (FamRL 2003/86/EG, Art 11 Abs. 2).
  • Anträge auf Familiennachzug müssen prioritär behandelt werden. Die langen Warte- und Bearbeitungszeiten müssen sich verkürzen!

Demonstration in Berlin am Samstag, 26. September 2020

Auftakt: 12.00 Uhr am Neptunbrunnen, Rathausstraße 1, 10178 Berlin-Mitte, S- und U-Bahnhof „Alexanderplatz“ Zwischenkundgebungen: Auswärtiges Amt Abschlusskundgebung: Kanzleramt

Für die Teilnahme an der Demonstration ist das Einhalten von Abstandsregeln und das Tragen von Atemschutzmasken zwingende Voraussetzung.

Organisator*innen: Selbstorganisierte Geflüchtete aus Eritrea „Initiative Familiennachzug Eritrea“ Flüchtlingsrat Berlin e.V., Initiative Familienleben für Alle

Kontakt: Flüchtlingsrat Berlin, Tel.: 030 224 76311, E-Mail: buero@fluechtlingsrat-berlin.de, www.fluechtlingsrat-berlin.de

Der Aufruf als PDF zum Ausdrucken und Verteilen:

Mehr Information:

Wer die Forderung der geflüchteten Väter und Mütter unterstützen will, kann hier eine Petition unterschreiben: Auch Geflüchtete haben ein Recht auf Familie!

ስደተኛታት ውን መሰል ስድራ ኣለዎም! ሰለማዊ ሰልፊ ኣብ በርሊን ንቀዳም ዕለት 26. መስከረም 2020

ንሕና ከባቢ 1200 ንኸውን ኤርትራውያን ተቐማጦ ጀርመን ናይ ፖለቲካ ዑቑባና ተቐቢልና መሰል ምጥርናፍ ስድራ ብሕጊ ዝፍቀደና እንደሃለወ ደቅናን በዓልቤትናን/በዓልቲቤትናን ኣብ ብፓለቲካ ዘይርጉእን ኣስጋኢ ቦታታት ከም ኢትዬጲያን ሱዳንን ምስ ስድርኦም ክሕወሱ እንዳተጸበዩ ምስ መሪር ናፍቀቶም ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ተፈላልዮም ይርከቡ።

ምፍልላይ ስድራ ይኣክል!

ምኒስትሪ ናይ ወጻኢ ጉዳያት ጀርመን ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ቦታት ዓለም ንዕረፍቲ ዝከዱ ዜጋታት ብምኽንያት Covid-19 ብኣዝዩ ክቡር ዋጋን ኣሸጋሪ መግድታትን ናብ ስድርኦምን ገዝኦምን ክመልስ ከሎ፡ ንናይ ጥርናፈ ስድራ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ግን ብዝተፈላልዩ ምኽንያታት የዕንቅጽ ኣሎ። ኣብ ዝተፈላልዩ ዓድታት ዘለዉ ናይ ጀርመን ኢምባሲታት ቆጸራ ንምርካብ ኣዋርሕ ንጽበ፣ ጉዳይና ክሳብ ዝርአ ብዙሓት ኣዋርሕ ይሓልፉ። ኣብ መወዳእታ ከነቕርቦምን ከነማልኦም ዘይንኽእልን ዶኩመትታት እንዳጠለቡ ኣብ ደረት ኣልቦ ከርተትን ትጽቢትን የእትውና

ምኒስትሪ ናይ ወጻኢ ጉዳያት ጀርመን ጸገም ናይ ኤርትራውያን ስድራ እንዳፈለጠ ንኩሉ ብዛዕባ ጥርናፈ ስድራ ኤርትራውያን ዝቐረበሉ ሕቶታት ጸማም እዝኒ ይህቦ ኣሎ።

ስለዚ ሎሚ ውን ኣብ ጽርግያ ወጺና ጠለብና ከምዚ ዝስዕብ ንገልጽ:

  • እዚ ጸረ ስድራ ዝኾነ ፖለቲክ ናይ ወጻኢ ጉዳያት ጀርመን የኽትም!
  • ዝምልከቶም ናይ ጀርመን ቢት ጽሕፈታት ዝጠልብዎም ዶክመንታት፥ ክነምጽኦም ዘይንኽልን ኣሸጋሪ ምኻኑን ኣሚኖም ካልእ ኣማራጺ፡ ከም ናይ ሀይማነታዊ ትካላት ዝህቡና ዶኩመንትን፣ ናይ ቤተሰብ ስእልን፣ DNA ካልእ ተመሳሳሊ መረጋገጽን ክቕበሉ ንጠልብ! ብናይ ኦይሮፓ ናይ ጥርናፈ ስድራ ሕጊ መሰርት፡ „ጥርናፈ ስድራ ብዝጎደሉ ዶክመንትታት ጥራይ ክንጸግ ኣይፍቀድን ኢዩ“ (FamRL 2003/86/EG, Art 11 Abs. 2)
  • ናይ ጀርመን ኢምባስታትን ነቲ ጉዳይ ንምስላጥ ዝምልከቶም ቢት ጽሕፈታትን፥ ንናይ ስድራ ጥርናፈ ቀዳምነት ክህብዎን ንምስርሑ ዝወስዶ ንዊሕ ግዜ ክሕጽርዎን ንጠልብ!

ሰለማዊ ሰልፊ ኣብ በርሊን ንቀዳም ዕለት 26. መስከረም 2020

Auftakt: 12.00 Uhr am Neptunbrunnen, Rathausstraße 1, 10178 Berlin-Mitte, S- und U-Bahnhof „Alexanderplatz“ Zwischenkundgebungen: Auswärtiges Amt Abschlusskundgebung: Kanzleramt

ኣብዚ ሰለማዊ ሰልፊ ንምስታፍ ምርሕሓቕና ምሕላውን ኣፍናን ኣፍንጫናን ንሽፍነሉ ማስክ ክንጥቀምን ግዴታ ኢዩ!

Even refugees have a right to family! Demonstration in Berlin on Saturday, 26 September 2020

We are about 1200 refugees from Eritrea entitled to protection and have a legal claim to family reunification. Nevertheless, our children and spouses have to wait years in politically unstable third countries such as Sudan and Ethiopia for family reunification and our families have been painfully separated for many years.

End family separation!

While the Federal Foreign Office has been taking stranded holidaymakers from all over the world to their families in an elaborate repatriation action, the reunification of families with Eritreans* recognised as refugees in Germany is systematically prevented: Families wait for months until they even get an appointment to apply for a visa at a German embassy, and then many more months pass until the applications are processed. Very often, family reunification finally fails because of the unreasonable and unfulfillable requirements which the German embassies place on the proof of family ties and identity of the relatives.

The German Federal Foreign Office is aware of the great need of the families – but all requests concerning family reunification from Eritrea fall on deaf ears there.

That is why we are taking to the streets again and demanding:

  • The anti-family policy of the Federal Foreign Office must be ended!
  • The German authorities must recognise the unreasonableness of obtaining documents from Eritrea and accept instead individual proof of family membership (e.g. religious documents or family photos)! According to the EU Family Reunification Directive, an application for family reunification may notbe refused solely on the grounds of lack of evidence (FamRL 2003/86/EC, Art 11 (2)).
  • Priority must be given to applications for family reunification. The long waiting and processing times must be shortened!

Demonstration in Berlin on Saturday, 26 September 2020

Kick-off: 12.00 at the Neptunbrunnen, Rathausstraße 1, 10178 Berlin-Mitte, S- and U-Bahn station “Alexanderplatz Interim rallies: German Federal Foreign Office Final rally: Federal Chancellery

To participate in the demonstration it is mandatory to observe the rules of distance and to wear masks.

More information in English:

theleftberlin 2020/07/22: Black Families Matter: Refugees protest for right to be reunited with loved ones

Wo ist unser Denkmal? Kundgebung und Performance

Berlin

English below

Wir, die Initiative #WoIstUnserDenkmal, eröffnen im Zuge einer Performance ein Mahnmal in Gedenken an die Opfer von Rassismus und Polizeigewalt am Samstag dem 26.9.2020 am Oranienplatz um 11:00 Uhr.

Auch wenn #Blacklivesmatter nicht mehr trendet: Rassistische Polizeigewalt ist noch immer Alltag. Menschen müssen jeden Tag Gewalt erleben – und einige überleben diese nicht. So sind 178 Menschen seit 1990 in deutschem Polizeigewahrsam ermordet worden. An all diese Menschen wollen wir erinnern und fordern Gerechtigkeit. Dafür fehlt uns der Ort, denn: Die Opfer von Rassismus werden nicht nur im öffentlichen Diskurs, sondern auch im öffentlichen Raum unsichtbar gemacht. Deswegen nehmen wir uns den Ort selbst und fragen: Wo ist unser Denkmal?

“Wir fordern Gerechtigkeit und Erinnerung als Werte die fundamentaler sind als die Rhetorik des Marktes. Wir werden mit unseren Symbolen auf der Straße bleiben um hinzuweisen auf die rassistischen Handlungen der Autoritäten gegen People of Color in Deutschland.”

Ein Aktivist von #WoIstUnserDenkmal

The list of the dead is long. We know far too little about many of them because the authorities do not investigate properly. No wonder, because Germany has a #racism problem, Germany has a #police problem!
We want a place to make the everyday experience of racist police violence visible. To remember and demand justice. For our grief and anger. For our resistance.
Berlin, where is our memorial?

Come to Oranienplatz on 26 September at 11 am!
Please remember to wear masks and keep your distance.

Kontakt: 01521 8966723 | woistunserdenkmal@gmail.com | Twitter: @WDenkmal | Instagram wo_ist_unser_denkmal | https://fb.me/e/d9wji9yJk

Sea-Watch 4 willkürlich festgesetzt: Die Kriminalisierung ziviler Seenotrettung erreicht einen neuen Höhepunkt

Movements

Die italienischen Behörden haben nach einer Hafenstaatskontrolle in der Nacht auf Sonntag das Rettungsschiff “Sea-Watch 4 powered by United4Rescue” festgesetzt. Sea-Watch, United4Rescue und Ärzte ohne Grenzen verurteilen die Festsetzung aufs Schärfste und fordern die sofortige Beendigung der Kriminalisierung ziviler Seenotrettung. „Die fadenscheinigen Begründungen zeigen erneut, dass es sich nicht um die Überprüfung der Schiffssicherheit handelt,…

Der Beitrag Sea-Watch 4 willkürlich festgesetzt: Die Kriminalisierung ziviler Seenotrettung erreicht einen neuen Höhepunkt erschien zuerst auf Sea-Watch e.V..

Crimes of Malta 02

Movements

#CrimesOfMalta: Die maltesische Rettungsleitstelle verstößt gegen die Pflicht, Rettungen von Menschen in Seenot in ihrer eigenen Such- und Rettungszone zu koordinieren und nimmt dabei bewusst die Gefährdung von Menschenleben in Kauf.   17. bis 19. Juni 2020: Ein Boot mit 25 Menschen ohne Rettungswesten an Bord treibt mehrere Tage in der maltesischen Such- und Rettungszone.…

Der Beitrag Crimes of Malta 02 erschien zuerst auf Sea-Watch e.V..

Crimes of Malta 01

Movements

“In der ersten Hälfte in 2020 haben die maltesischen Behörden mehrere Verstöße gegen die Achtung und den Schutz der Rechte von Geflüchteten und Migrant*innen auf See begangen. Unter ihrer Koordination wurden Menschen nach Libyen zurückgedrängt – ein Land im Krieg, in dem Geflüchtete und Migrant*innen systematisch missbraucht werden. Die Verzögerungen bei der Beantwortung von Notrufen…

Der Beitrag Crimes of Malta 01 erschien zuerst auf Sea-Watch e.V..

In Moria sind die europäischen Werte verbrannt

Movements

Nachdem unzählige Warnungen über Jahre hinweg nicht gehört werden wollten, ist heute Nacht das Horrorszenario eingetreten: Das völlig überfüllte Lager Moria ist zu großen Teilen abgebrannt. 13.000 Menschen haben alles verloren, was kein Zuhause, aber ihre einzige Unterkunft war. Das Feuer ist die Konsequenz einer europäischen Flüchtlingspolitik, die auf Abschottung und Abschreckung setzt. Einer Flüchtlingspolitik,…

Der Beitrag In Moria sind die europäischen Werte verbrannt erschien zuerst auf Sea-Watch e.V..

A voice from Moria

Berlin

My name is Raed Alabd. I am from Syria. I came here to the Lesbos Island to Moria camp on 9 December 2019. I came alone. I was working in Syria as a agency advisor for health, safety and environment for petrol companies and I liked my job. After one month, when I came here to the Lesbos island, the Syrian’s committee chose me as the Syrian’s leader. Now, I am the Arab Committee Leader here in Moria camp, especially for the Syrian people, except Somali and Yemen communities. Also, I am the leader and coordinator for Moria White Helmets and I am a member for MCAT group [Moria Corona Awareness Team].

Together, we are working here since three months. We make this small teams regarding about the situation. Here in Moria camp, as everybody knows, it is bad situation. This camp was built for 3,000 or 4,000 persons. Now we got around 20,000 of refugees here in the camp. It is a huge camp, the biggest camp in the islands of Greece. It is a bad situation here. We are facing too many problems every day, we are dying everyday here in Moria camp.

We are missing all the facilities, all the services here, especially the people who are living outside the camp.

Outside the camp the people live in the jungle. The people inside get water, food and shower, but the people who live outside miss these things, especially the water. It is too much difficult for the people to find water for washing their bodies, their hands, their clothes, too much hard for them. To come from the up the hill to go inside the camps. They collect the empty bottles, fill their bottles with water to clean their hands, their bodies, their clothes, it is complicated really and it is very bad for everybody, but this is the truth, this is the real things. It’s a bad situation – hell.

Also, we are facing the dangerous virus around the world, the COVID-19 Corona virus and we are very sad for everybody who lose their persons, their families for this Corona virus and we are thanking god: till now we don’t have any cases for COVID-19 in Moria camp. Because of all these things we made in a team, we call it Moria White Helmets, and we are helping people, advising, learning them about COVID-19, what it means, and how they can protect themselves and others by simple ways. Also, we meet in MCAT group, Moria Corona Awareness Team, and we are working together for awareness of all these people. From the beginning we made posters by simple ways, out of carton and we wrote the information about the Corona virus and distributed them around the camp. Behind the fence and we are thanking them very much, is Stand By Me Lesvos and they are supporting us from the beginning until now, they are standing with us. We made a small factory and we brought sewing machines, making masks and we distributed them from Afghan women and we are thanking them very much. After that, and all people they knew that we are missing many services, when the NGO left us in a bad situation here, when the local people attacked the NGOs here.

We should find a solution how to protect us from everything by ourselves.

We are missing many things, especially the medication. We have a small clinic here, Kitrinos [Kitrinos health care clinic in Moria], and we have Kalloni [another clinic], and we have MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders]. The duration for their work, from morning at 9 till 5 o’clock. The people stand together under the sun one hour, two hour, three hours and after that they have some medication what they got from these clinics. During the night, it is very hard for everybody, because nobody opens. Many cases happen during the night, especially for the children and women. When you go to the clinic it is closed, when you call the ambulance, they say we should call the ambulance, and ambulance sometimes comes, but most times not coming. It’s very hard for people to take medication. So, medical issues and the treatment we are missing also. It is very hard for everybody here. There is a doctor, they open during the night around 10, 11 or 12. Many cases happen during the night and they cannot help us, because we are missing many things. One hour, two hours to cover ambulance to transfer the people to the hospital or to the clinic in Mytilini. Sometimes they say you can go on your own, go by taxi. At night, when you go out, you won’t find any taxi, unfortunately. And the people, dissapointed, return back to their tents. This is the situation actually, what I told you about everything.

About supporting us from outside. There is some people who support us, from Europe to Stand by me Lesvos direct to us and we are thanking them very much. We are thanking people who are supporting us. The first and the second call to the Europe’s people and they did not take any reply about what we need about what we ask them from the beginning till now. So what we need, we need to help people as much as we can, because we are in a bad situation. We are dying every day here in Lesbos, especially in Moria camp. This is my people’s voice. They said: We are waiting how to die, because we are dying every day, dying when we go to the food line to take our meals, standing one hour, two hours, three hours to take the meals and to take the water and to standing two hours, three hours at the baths in line to take a shower or something. This is very hard for us. We are missing many things.

So what we need: we need more help, we need our voice reach everybody around the world that we need helping. Especially we are Syrian people. We came for some reasons from the beginning till now.

We left our countries, we left our homes, we don’t have homes actually, because they are destroyed. And everybody around the world they know about that.

We lost our families, we lost our land, we lost everything. We don’t have any safe places. Because of that we came to Turkiye, and from Turkiye we came to find a safe place to end our life. This is the fact and this is the real. We need everybody to know that. We don’t have anything and we don’t need anything. We don’t need money and we don’t need small things. The things what we need is to end our life in a safe place. This is what we need, this is my people’s voice, as I told before.

We are dying, we are waiting how to die. Sorry to tell you that but this is the fact, this is the real. This is the message from Moria camp to everybody.

And the message is for all the activist people in the other camps I think the same, especially for the Syrian people. So we are humans, we are not animals and the people they should respect us. They should treat us as humans. Where are the human rights about all of these things. Really, we are in a bad situation. I cannot tell you, how sad we are, because of all these things. Nobody cares about us, nobody helps us. So, at the end, we are humans. Respect us! So please, spread our message around the world for what we need. Thank you again and appreciate for everybody who support us from the beginning till now, even by messages, even by calls. The money is nothing. So what we need, only one word, that we are humans. This is what we need. We need a safe place to end our lives. That’s it.

This is Raed Alabd from Moria camp, inside Moria camp, today, 24 June 2020. Thank you!

Update 9/9/2020: Last night, Moria camp has almost completely burned down with several thousand people deprived of any protection against the cold and the rain and with nowhere to go. So far, despite the political pressure by social movements and activists to evacuate Moria and bring the refugees to self-declared Solidarity Cities around Europe, the EU and its member states remain silent. Several demonstrations all over Germany have been announced for today evening, demanding an immediate relocation programme.

You can read this article also in the latest issue of Daily Resistance on page 5: https://oplatz.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Daily-Resistance-7.pdf

New UNHCR position statement on Libya as Safe Third Country and as Place of Safety for purpose of disembarkation after rescue at sea; Coordination or involvement in SAR operations engage a State’s non-refoulement obligations

Movements

 UNHCR released a new position statement regarding the designation of Libya as a Safe Third Country and as a Place of Safety for the Purpose of Disembarkation Following Rescue at Sea, superseding its previous 2018 position statement.

Key points:

  • UNHCR does not consider it appropriate for States to designate Libya as a so-called “safe third country”;
  • UNHCR does not consider that Libya meets the criteria for being designated as a place of safety for the purpose of disembarkation following rescue at sea;
  • UNHCR recalls that the principle of non-refoulement applies wherever a state exercises jurisdiction, including where it exercises effective control in the context of search and rescue operations outside its territory;
  • Where a State’s coordination or involvement in a SAR operation, in view of all the relevant facts, is likely to determine the course of events, UNHCR’s view is that the concerned State’s negative and positive obligations under applicable international refugee and human rights law, including non-refoulement, are likely to be engaged.

Excerpts from the Position Statement:

 1. This position supersedes and replaces UNHCR’s guidance on foreign nationals in Libya contained in the Position on Returns to Libya – Update II of September 2018. [***]

4. Libya is not party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its Protocol. It has ratified the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (OAU Convention) and is also party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“Banjul Charter”). While the right to asylum is provided for in Article 10 of Libya’s 2011 interim Constitutional Declaration, there is no asylum legislation or any established asylum procedures. [***]

9. A significant number of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants are detained or held in captivity for various periods of time, including following interception or rescue at sea or, more recently, interception on land, including near land borders or embarkation points.  A number of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants are held in officially designated detention centres administered by the Directorate to Combat Illegal Migration (DCIM). Some are transferred to facilities under the Ministry of Interior used as investigation centres after rescue or interception at sea. Many are held captive upon crossing to Libya from neighbouring countries in places run by armed factions and criminal networks, including in warehouses and farms. Although the number of persons held in DCIM-administered detention centres declined over the course of 2019 and early 2020, at the time of writing, the number is once again on the rise. As at 7 August 2020, UNHCR estimates that 2,500 foreign nationals, including 1,212 persons of concern to UNHCR, are held in the DCIM-administered detention centres. Between January and April 2020, hundreds of migrants returned to Libya by the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) were unaccounted for following their disembarkation.

10. In all detention facilities, conditions fail to meet international standards and have been described as “horrendous” and “cruel, inhuman and degrading”. Deaths in detention due to violence, suicide, and disease have been reported. Both male and female asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants, including children, are routinely subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced labour, forced recruitment, as well as extortion, both in official and unofficial detention facilities. [***]

13. En route and during their stay in Libya, asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants, including children, are at risk of being subjected to widespread and systematic human rights violations and abuses at the hands of smugglers, traffickers, armed groups, militias and criminal gangs acting with impunity. These violations and abuses reportedly include unlawful deprivation of liberty and arbitrary detention; torture and other forms of ill-treatment; rape and other forms of sexual violence; abduction for ransom and other forms of extortion; forced labour; and unlawful killing. Women and girls, but also men and boys, are subjected to rape, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence. In a particularly horrifying incident, a group of traffickers opened fire in a warehouse in Mezda southwest of Tripoli in May 2020, killing 30 persons and injuring 11 others. Since the armed conflict has shifted away from Tripoli, the Ministry of Interior has taken action against certain trafficking and smuggling networks in western Libya.

14. Since 2017, Italy and the EU provide assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) to increase its capacity to carry out search and rescue operations and prevent irregular departures on the Central Mediterranean route. As a result of increased LCG operations, the number of people successfully crossing from Libya to Europe, particularly to Italy, has reduced significantly since 2017. However, in May 2020 UNHCR observed a renewed increase in departures from Libya as a result of increased fighting and deteriorating living conditions and loss of livelihoods due to COVID-19. Out of the total number of people who do attempt the crossing, the proportion of persons intercepted or rescued at sea by the LCG has increased. The increase in interception and rescue operations conducted by the LCG resulted in greater numbers of persons disembarked in Libya. The LCG have reportedly been involved in human rights violations against asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants, including the use of firearms. The LCG have also been accused of colluding with smuggling networks. Against this background, in April 2020 a European Parliament majority demanded that cooperation with the LCG be stopped.

15. In parallel, the activities of non-governmental organization (NGO) rescue boats have been increasingly restricted, including by criminal proceedings and the seizure of vessels, leading some to suspend rescue operations. Additionally, some states began closing ports during the COVID-19 crisis, declaring them unsafe, and thereby preventing NGO search and rescue boats from docking. These developments, among others, have led to a estimated higher percentage of people dying at sea than ever before.

16. In June 2018, Libya formally declared a Search-and-Rescue Region (SRR), indicating that it assumed primary responsibility for search and rescue coordination in an area extending to around 100 miles from some of the primary embarkation sites. Libya established a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), reportedly supported by Italy. In a number of instances, NGOs reported difficulties to contact the JRCC. [***]

29. The situation in which a state exercises jurisdiction over people as a result of interception or rescue at sea requires respect for the principle of non-refoulement. UNHCR urges states to refrain from returning to Libya any foreign nationals intercepted or rescued at sea and to ensure that those in need of international protection are able to access fair and effective asylum procedures upon disembarkation.

30. Upon arrival in a country of asylum, persons seeking or otherwise indicating a possible need for international protection should be referred to national asylum procedures. [***]

32. UNHCR does not consider it appropriate for States to designate Libya as a so-called “safe third country”. The designation of a country as a safe third country may result in a request for international protection not being considered on its merits but declared inadmissible, or processed in an accelerated procedure with reduced procedural safeguards. Even before the current unrest and insecurity, UNHCR considered that Libya should not be regarded as a safe third country in light of the absence of a functioning asylum system, the widely reported difficulties and abuses faced by asylum-seekers and refugees in Libya, the absence of protection from such abuses, the lack of protection against refoulement, and the lack of durable solutions.  UNHCR calls on States not to channel applications for international protection from foreign nationals into an accelerated procedure or declare them inadmissible, merely on the basis of the fact that they previously resided in or transited through Libya.

33. In the context of rescue at sea and in line with international maritime law, disembarkation is to occur in a predictable manner in a place of safety and in conditions that uphold respect for the human rights of those who are rescued, including adherence to the principle of non-refoulement. When persons are rescued at sea, including by military and commercial vessels, “the need to avoid disembarkation in territories where [their] lives and freedoms (…) would be threatened” is relevant in determining what constitutes a place of safety. In light of the volatile security situation in general and the particular protection risks for foreign nationals (including arbitrary and unlawful detention in substandard conditions in State-run detention centres, and reports of serious violations and abuses against asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants by, among others, militias, traffickers and smugglers), UNHCR does not consider that Libya meets the criteria for being designated as a place of safety for the purpose of disembarkation following rescue at sea.

34. UNHCR therefore calls on States to refrain from returning to Libya any persons rescued at sea and to ensure their timely disembarkation in a place of safety. UNHCR recalls that the principle of non-refoulement applies wherever a state exercises jurisdiction, including where it exercises effective control in the context of search and rescue operations outside its territory. Where a State’s coordination or involvement in a SAR operation, in view of all the relevant facts, is likely to determine the course of events, UNHCR’s view is that the concerned State’s negative and positive obligations under applicable international refugee and human rights law, including non-refoulement, are likely to be engaged.

Urgent Call from Moria Camp for Help in Corona Times

Berlin

Update 2/9/2020: This call was the second open letter to the EU and its member states to evict the Moria camp on the greek island of Lesvos in face of the pandemic threat. The inhabitants of the overcrowded camp have not received any answer so far, while everyone on the spot, including the support initiatives have by far reached their limits for months. In these circumstances, today, the first COVID-19 infection has been discovered in the camp.

  • To the European Union
  • To the Governments of European Countries
  • The European Public

Moria Camp, Lesvos April 16th 2020

We are addressing you from Moria Camp in Lesvos and ask for your help and support. Here in Lesvos almost 24.000 refugees currently live in highly inhuman conditions, with no services, only several hours of water per day and under deplorable hygienic conditions. We see, that now, after a long time, there is an ongoing discussion in the European public about us, about the circumstances we are living in. We would like to thank for all the solidarity, which we got in the last months and days from the European civil society, from all the people, who are not willing to abandon us in these times of the corona-crisis in their countries. We like to thank to all the politicians, communities, towns all over Europe, who declared, they like to receive refugees like us in their neighbourhoods. This give us hope and confidence, that the long and hard way we all have behind us, when we were forced to leave our home countries, was not in vain. We all came to Europe, because we want to live like human beings and because we could not stand the violence, the wars and the persecution we all faced. We were
coming, because our children deserve a better future, where they can live in safety, have access to health services, go to school and have the opportunity to make the most of their lives by using their abilities.

Now we are in a double crisis. We are hostages of circumstances, we are not
responsible for. At first the general living conditions in the Moria camp, which are really horrible and which are degrading us day by day. But now we face the problem of the pandemic danger, which we cannot stand alone. We began to organize our life in misery, we try to protect our dignity, but we cannot fight against a virus without minimal hygienic standards and possibilities to protect us. Any advise how to avoid the spread of Corona even sound illusionary to us:

How should we keep distance, if thousand have to wait for food every day, how to wash our hands, if no water is available? How can sick persons isolate if there is no place for that?


In the beginning of the crisis, we felt left abandoned and were totally unprepared. We took some measures to self-organize with the support from some, mainly local Greek NGOs to raise awareness and prepare for the worse. During the last weeks, we managed a lot of small steps, cleaned the camp, set up some hand washing stations, printed posters and leaflets and did other activities. While Corona spread in Greece and here in Lesvos, we expected the worst, because this virus in the camp would be like a death sentence for old, sick and other vulnerable individuals.

For the first time, we are able to breath in a bit of relief, since no new cases were reported on the island for more than two weeks. But this does not mean the danger vanishes. In contrary, Moria camp will stay vulnerable for many more months. But for us, the first phase of trying to keep the virus away by all means is over and now we are trying to prepare for the next period of time. In March here in Moria, refugees created several groups like the Moria Corona Awareness Team (MCAT) and Moria White Helmets. We worked very closely together with Greek and International NGOs as well as the local authorities. We also followed the demands and campaigns of the local Greek government for evacuation and call by ourselves to dissolve these camps in Lesvos, Chios, Samos and other islands as soon as possible. But we do see that this will not happen soon. Therefore, we suggest a two-folded strategy for the future. We urge Europe to evacuate the old, sick and vulnerable immediately because there is no protection for them here. This has to include unaccompanied or sick children with their families. In the meanwhile, many important steps can be taken to help the ones who will remain. The steps to address these issues are:

  • water (sewage/toilets, showers, and taps)
  • trash
  • isolation
  • food supply/food line
  • hygiene/disinfection
  • fire protection
  • security
  • awareness/education

This can and should be done with support of the European Union and EU governments, with the understanding that this is not a long-term solution. These camps violate the laws of international human rights and refugee rights. There should be a consensus among the European governments that these camps need to be dissolved as soon as possible, which realistically means after this Coronavirus pandemic. We, the refugees of Moria camp, under the guidance of MCAT and Moria White Helmets offer our support
and cooperation to any entity ready to assist in this endeavor on a temporary and provisionary level. This strategy also coincides with the desires of the Greek government who have long been requesting the EU’s assistance in taking in refugees, finding a long-term solution and relieving the pressure on the island and its people.

We know how much the Greek citizens on these islands have suffered during the last years and we also call on Europe to assist them in these difficult times. They also ask since a long for a sustainable solution instead of being left alone with this crisis. As we see it, the most plausible solution would be that the governments of the EU make cooperative contracts with the Greek government to provide aid, backing and technical support in order to fix what is fixable while the Coronavirus crisis is ongoing. At the
same time, it is also important to work towards evacuating as many people as possible. This being of the minors, the elderly and those with health conditions, and then working towards a long-term solution for evacuating the island and closing the camps once the crisis has passed. We welcome very much the first steps taken by the Greek Government now to get some of these vulnerable people out of the camps. By addressing the immediate structural needs in Moria camp on a short-term, temporary basis, time will be bought to find a more substantial solution for those currently residing
in Moria, paving the way for Moria and other hot spots to be permanently closed.

We need help to help ourselves. We are willing to do whatever we can do to protect all of us from the ongoing danger of the Coronavirus. We are in Europe and we need Europe to survive!

You can read this article also in the latest issue of Daily Resistance on page 4: https://oplatz.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Daily-Resistance-7.pdf

Antiracist day of action on 5 September 2020

Berlin

Germanwide call for decentralized protests

On September 5th we all go out into the streets together and show loud and clear what kind of society we want to live in: a society without racism! Exactly five years after the “March of Hope”. Because September 2015 was a ray of hope. A historical breakthrough against the border regime, not only on the Balkan route. A dynamic of coming and welcoming that we will not forget. And for which we continue to fight: despite and against the continuous backlash of racist laws and agitation.

Every day we experience it anew: racism hurts, racism kills. Whether it is the policy of sealing off Europe’s external borders, letting people die in the Mediterranean, racial profiling in the city centres, the forced placement of refugees in camps, deportations and detention, the search for accommodation and unequal treatment on the labour market, in schools and universities, the arbitrariness of authorities, in barsat the barroom and on the Internet. It is precisely this policy that lays the foundations for racist murder and terror. Racism structures and permeates our society and must be simultaneously fought and unlearned by all of us.

But everywhere, people resist and fight for an open and solidary society and against racism. Every day, on a small and large scale, practical and political. We fight for the right to freedom of movement, for equalrights for all. We struggle for people to be rescued from distress at sea and we fight with Black Lives Matter against racist controls and police violence. With the demand for housing and solidarity cities and safe havens for all. With the resistance against deportations, with church and citizen asylum. With protests against all forms of racist discrimination and exploitation. And as MigrAntifa against right-wing violence. We are many and we are loud, we fight in cities, in villages, on the streets and in private and we do not give up!

Migrant struggles have shaped our society for decades and have become part of the history and reality of our cities. Here and now we are already on the way into the society of the many and we cannot be stopped!

Our anti-racist resistance is both a concrete practice and a living vision. We struggle for cities of solidarity in an open Europe. Against exploitation and exclusion. For the right to stay, to come and to go. For equal rights. For all.

More info: https://www.welcome-united.org/de/aktionswoche/alliance-call-2020/