Story by Dawid Krawczyk of Krytyka Polityczna on the Refugee Movement Berlin: “Not everything works out as planned”

On Ohlauer Strasse in Berlin there is a building that once housed a co-educational high school. Later it stood empty. Now refugees live in it. Behind a gate with two guards, under constant surveillance.

‘No, no! You can’t take photos here. Outside the bars you can,’ I hear a few seconds after I decide to enter the school area. Alongside the guards I also see a smiling man coming towards me. He wears a winter cap and a light down jacket. His name is Alnour Ahmad-Hassan, a resident of the school. He calms the guard down.

‘Okay, let’s get out of here. At the corner there is a café. We can sit there and talk in peace,’ Alnour suggests.

‘So this is how it is here now?’ I ask, surprised.

‘Yes, more or less. You see, they are isolating us here completely.’

Entrance gate of Gerhart Hauptmann school at Ohlauer Straße, Berlin. 2 July 2014 © Andrea Linss

***

‘What would you like to know?’ asks Alnour several minutes later, sipping his black coffee.

‘Everything, basically.’

‘If everything, it would be good to start at the beginning.’

Stop the war on migrants! Remembering Ceuta in struggle

Sit-in at Checkpoint Charlie: Stop the war on migrants
Saturday, February 6th, 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstr. 43–45 Subway: U 6 Kochstraße, U 2 Stadtmitte Bus: M 29 Kochstraße

Conference: Saturday, February 6th, 6 – 9 p.m. Mehringhof Versammlungssaal, Gneisenaustr. 2a

Organizers: Voix des Migrants, URBB (Union des Réfugié-es de Berlin-Brandenbourg), Refugee Community Berlin, ae act (afrique-europe-interact), Watch The Med Alarm Phone, Corasol

(deutsch unten)

Invitation: What no one talks about – Refugees from Sudan

When? 11. 02. | 19:00 – 21:00

Where? Regenbogenfabrik | Lausitzer Straße 22, 10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg

german translation below

During the second Sudanese civil war that went on for 22 years, Omar al-Bashir assumed power in 1989. Al-Bashir is the first and only officiating president worldwide who is wanted for genocide, war crime and crimes against humanity. Unimpeded by the UNAMID stationed in Darfur, the regime committed numerous human rights violations, such as expulsions of whole villages, aimed destructions of livelihoods, arbitrary torture, execution, abuse and mass rape in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Looka Here! Magazine

Cover photo: © Mohammed Lamin Jadama

For Information and Comments contact: lookahere@gmx.net

Mediawork – Blogging Workshop

Net addict by Osmani Simanca

Dear activists!

The media group kindly invites to the first workshop to train skills in blogging, including how to publish posts and how to improve web presentation on the basis of the oplatz.net website (wordpress). It will take place on Friday, 11th of December, 15 – 17 h in the office in Waldemarstraße 46, Berlin-Kreuzberg.

We want to improve the mediawork and invite you to exchange our knowledge and ideas to learn together how to easily and independently use wordpress as a means to spread messages and information. The workshop is adressed to those with beginners and as well as advanced skills.

Come and join in, everybody is welcome!

No to even tighter laws! Yes to solidarity!

credit is due to Corasol

deutsch s.u. // francais en bas // shqip ja poshtë bellow

30.11 – 03.12. 2015:

Daily rally between 12 noon and 2pm Marschallbrücke/Willhelmstraße (U Friedrichstraße)

04.12.2015 1.30 pm Oranienplatz:

Demonstration: Against limitation of the right to asylum! For an open society!

Against limitation of the right to asylum! Photo: Yusuf Beyazit

A new draft law for a renewed limitation of the right to asylum is going to be discussed in December. This draft includes plans for even more restrictive measures. The central element is the acceleration of asylum application procedures, which could then only take three weeks. Refugees who arrive in Germany without documents would be particularly affected. In addition, the law would not allow people whose applications had been approved to bring their families to Germany until they have been living here for two years. Moreover, a list of specially selected doctors would be drawn up in order to make it easier to carry out deportations. For many refugees this draft law will mean an end to their time in Germany and it doesn‘t have anything to do with “welcome culture” or humanity.

We demand a humane asylum process for everybody!
Freedom of movement is everybodys right!

the message: from and for lovers

the following is a direct translation: u know there is no wrong if we all write in the language of love. we are one.

 

 

 

 

 

The Refugee Guide Berlin is out!

The Sleeping Place Orga Group has just created a print and digital version of the Refugee Guide Berlin in English.

Refugee Guide Oplatz

About:

This booklet is made for you – refugees living in Berlin, with or without papers, especially for those, who have just arrived and need some orientation. It will help you to get information on all aspects of life, no matter where you are from or what status you have. We have often witnessed how difficult life can be for refugees in Germany. Racism, ignorance and the indifference of German authorities have meant that many refugees who came here to find shelter from war, poverty and persecution are completely on their own and are often faced with homelessness and poverty.

NO ONE FLEES WITHOUT REASON

Yet, for all those, who are concerned: you are not alone! We regard every human being as equal regardless of constructions like nationality or the passport you have. Hence, everybody should have the same rights, access to work and accommodation. We disagree with the existing state, in which refugees are forced to live packed into camps, having no control about their wellbeing and being permanently threatened by deportation.

What is the difference between refugees and ‘normal’ citizens besides the fact that the former had to flee from their homes? There is none. Many out there agree with us and show solidarity with refugees in many different ways: political action, accommodation support, medical help, food, legal assistance, to name only some. This booklet aims at providing you with information about the different kinds of support and possibilities of self-organization you can get to live your life in Berlin in dignity and a more independent way.

Link: FINAL_RefugeeGuideBerlin-WEB

Booklet versions in French, Arabic, German and Italian will soon follow. If you want to obtain print versions or if you can offer any help with translations, contact schlafplatzorga@gmail.com

Please spread and share!

Oplatz construction political campaign > Call for support

Oplatz boat model

[Deutsche Version unten]

Dear all,
we would like to revive the Oplatz as soon as possible and organize the construction of a boat-like-infopoint-building – to be present and visible again as a refugee movement and to have a safe space for refugee-/activists to meet, get informed, get involved in political action. As you can read in the last protocols from Sunday’s open plenum, the decision for this construction was taken by refugees on September 20th 2015.

In order to get such a boat-like-oplatz-building we need a big political campaign.

For this we need a lot of support!

Do you have experiences with politicial campaigns? With finances? With project management? Do you have big networks you can activate to support? Would you contribute to the publicity of the campaign with an event? Would you just like to be part of it?

Flüchtlingen helfen und dann? Discussion meeting at Mehringhof, October the 5th, at 7 p.m.

Alliance for unconditional right to stay

(german text below)

Hello everybody,

we invite initiatives and individuals to our open meeting tomorrow, Monday October the 5th, at 7PM, at Mehringhof, Gneisenaustraße 2a, in Berlin Kreuzberg. We want to discuss about the question, what comes after the big wave of solidarity shown in the last weeks by the civil society and how it can be transformed in some kind of political movement. We want to talk about the politics and the bad laws made by the german government in the meantime and why the refugees are not asked in the big german public discussion. To give a little input, there will be several persons of different initiatives on the podium. English, french and arabic translation will be provided.

Hope to see you

yours Alliance for an unconditional right to stay / Bündnis für bedingungsloses Bleiberecht

Flüchtlingen helfen und dann?

Eine Diskussionsveranstaltung am 05.10.2015 um 19 Uhr im Mehringhof, Gneisenaustraße 2a, Berlin Kreuzberg. Tausende helfen. Tausende machen mit. Tausende zeigen praktische Solidarität gegenüber Geflüchteten. Sie sortieren Kleiderspenden und verteilen Lebensmittel. #refugeeswelcome heißt es in der Bevölkerung, auch wenn man dabei nicht vergessen darf, dass es auf der anderen Seite immer noch genug Rassistinnen und Rassisten gibt, die den Geflüchteten lieber mit Hass statt mit Luftballons begegnen. Ein Blick in die sozialen Medien liefert den nötigen Realitätscheck. Doch was bleibt nach der Hilfswelle? Wie wird das Engagement der Bürgerinnen und Bürger in zwei oder drei Monaten aussehen, wenn die erste Euphorie verflogen ist? Was passiert eigentlich mit den Geflüchteten, die man bei der praktischen Arbeit kennen gelernt hat und die aufgrund der aktuellen Gesetzeslage nicht in diesem Land bleiben dürfen? Denn noch während die Bundesregierung sich für die Willkommenskultur ihrer Bürgerinnen und Bürger loben lässt, wird im Innenministerium mit Hochdruck an den nächsten Bleiberechtsverschärfungen gebastelt – mit fatalen Folgen für die Schutzsuchenden. Auf politischer Ebene heißt es eben gar nicht #refugeeswelcome, dort setzt man nach wie vor auf Abschreckung, Abschiebung und Abschottung, um der Flüchtlingsströme Herr zu werden. Wir wollen an diesem Abend darüber sprechen, wie praktische Hilfe und politische Arbeit zusammenkommen können und ganz konkreten Fragen nachgehen:

→ Was fordert der selbstbestimmten Protest der Refugeebewegung und wie kann man ihn unterstützen?
→ Wie kann man sich gemeinsam politisch engagieren und organisieren?
→ Was können wir für eine neue Flüchtlingspolitik tun?
→ Was sind eigentlich die wirklichen Fluchtursachen und wie können wir sie bekämpfen?

Es diskutieren Christiane Beckmann von Moabit hilft, Napuli Langa vom Refugee Movement Oranienplatz, Vertreter_innen vom Bündnis für bedingungsloses Bleiberecht u.a.

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Bündnis für bedingungsloses Bleiberecht