LOOKA HERE! Magazine, Edition No. 11 (digital version) out now!

(to read the magazine as a PDF, please click on the cover)

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.’

The self-organized refugee squat Orfanotrofeio in Thessaloniki

Credit: Črna luknja

Credit: A-Radio Berlin *English, * German, * Spanish translation

The following audio is a recording made by activists of the self-organized refugee squat Orfanotrofeio in Thessaloniki, Greece. This material has been made available to us by our comrades at Črna Luknja, the anarchist radio show at Radio Študent in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

Appeal for refugee community network from Konradsreuth, Bayern

german & french & russian translation below

To all Refugees in Konradsreuth and Hof Districts

For about 2 years now in Frauenhof, we refugees from Ukrain and Cheychenia have been living together as family community in Konradsreuth with the status of asylum applicant refugees. We support one another through social cultural exchange in our daily relationship.

Since then, many more refugees have been transferred here to live in the village of Konradsreuth and in other districts of Hof, therefore we think it is time to widen our network and community.

It is our belief in human dignity that motivates us to propose an active and independent platform of refugee community to advance our unity for fundamental human rights, for freedom and for the well-being of refugees.

In Germany A Passport From Nigeria Is Not Respected – Rex Osa, Activist

video on sahara-tv on embassy deportation crime with Rex Osa, Voice Refugee Forum

Germany based Nigerian activist, Rex Osa of the Voice Refugee Forum shed light on the harsh treatment Nigerian refugees and asylum seekers face in Germany and the little help the Nigerian Embassy in Germany provides. “Deportation we know is the culture in Germany,” explained Osa. He described the deplorable living conditions of refugees in Germany and the restrictions put on those with the status. “As a refugee in Germany you are not allowed to go outside your district. If you are by chance caught outside you are penalized,” said Osa, who accused the Nigerian Embassy in Germany of being involved in a “deportation scheme.”

another article on the topic at newspaper “der freitag” in german: Der Pass wird passend gemacht

 

Civil Society 4.0 – Refugees and Digital Self Organization

2016, Mar 03, Thu — 2016, Mar 05, Sat

Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin

© Lionel-Kreglinger/Berlin 2015

Refugees are also digital trailblazers; the use of smartphones and social media are essential both for their escape and for everyday life in their new homes. For voluntary refugee aids, digital tools are also of great importance. Recently projects such as the platform www.arriving-in-berlin.de have demonstrated how important the web is for the self-organization of refugees. The Civil Society 4.0 conference aims to network the many initiatives and projects.

The Struggles Continue: New Year’s Compliments in honour of Fela Kuti / Kalakuta Republic (MOP – Movement of the people)

Credit: The Voice Refugee Forum in Germany

german below

Greetings from Kalakuta Republic / The Unspoken Cultural Revolution from  Africa against the Military Brutality in 70s and 80s in Nigeria.

Feel free to listen and spread this call in honour of our historical struggles from Nigeria and Africa!

Liquid Union Channels Projekt

Liquid Unions platform – Legal Frames For Authentic Distribution Of Money!

Das Grenzöffnungs-Projekt – Selbstproduzierte Medien als Teil vom Flüssiger Verein Kanäle Projekt (Liquid Union Channels Projekt)

Erez, the  inventor of this project will soon have to leave Germany on 18th of  December,  so we want to meet before to take concrete steps and discuss the potentiality of the project. The meetings (or several) should be as soon as possible. If you are interested please contact via Twitter: Erez@namzezam, or contact him via this page or subscribe: http://liquid-unions.wikidot.com/

http://liquid-unions.wikidot.com/we-are-now-preparing-our-own-self-produce-media-produced-in (unvollständige Übersetzung)
Wir arbeiten jetzt an unseren eigenen selbstproduzierten Medien (bestehend aus Schlussfolgerungen, Interpretationen, Berichten und persönlichen Mitteilungen), in guter Qualität produziert und in einer anpassbaren Plattform, von unten nach oben in einer fairen und authentischen Form entwickelt, und kommen dadurch gleichzeitig mit vielen verschiedenen Gruppen zusammen, liefern und empfangen Nachrichten von Migrant*innen in ganz Europa.

16.12. LGBT*I*Q Perspectives in Self-organised Resistance of Refugees in Berlin and Germany

When: Wednesday, December 16th 2015, 7pm

Where: Migrationsrat Berlin-Brandenburg, Oranienstr. 34, 10999 Berlin. (U8 Kottbusser Tor/Moritzplatz. Rear House, 2nd Floor.)

The space is wheelchair accessible and we are in the process of organizing accessible bathrooms.

Refugees who are LGBT*I*Q are often subject to discrimination on numerous levels, especially in the process of flight and migration. These experiences are often oscilliate between being silenced & neglected and being misused & instrumentalised.

What are the different perspectives on this issue in the context of refugee activism in Berlin and Germany? What is necessary to make these perspectives become more visible in the dominant discourse on refugee issues and what are the expectations and demands of those affected concerning self-organisation, networking and support structures? These will be some of the points we will be focusing on this evening with our guests:

Safa Mohamed (Feminist and LGBT*I*Q Activist), Ahmed Awadalla (Refugee Activist) and Bino Byansi Byakuleka (Textile designer and Refugee Activist)

The evening will be chaired by Joy Zalzala Soyka (Lesbenberatung Berlin/LesMigraS) and will be conducted in English and Arabic with German translation.

We are born free! Reflection and empowerment hour

Workshop by Bino Byansi Byakuleka, Sharon Otoo & Florian Fischer

Friday, December 4th 2015, 17:00 – 21:00

Venue: w_orten & meer, Hasenheide 73, 10967 Berlin-Kreuzberg (U7 Südstern)

Reflection and empowerment hour

If you are involved in any kind of refugee (self-) organization, supporter structures or charity organizations we would like to invite you to our empowerment workshop.

There is a lot to be done and the current situation of refugees in Germany and Europe requires us to rethink political strategies and use the power we have appropriately.
The current wave of welcoming culture is very important in order to show alternatives to the racist hatred that is getting stronger each day. At the same time this wave comes exactly at the time when our refugee movement has become very weak to almost not-existing anymore. The so-called civil society chooses to be in the helping position instead of supporting self organized refugee resistance. This is a step back, it puts us back to being the helped supposedly passive object while the helpers are becoming a new lobby.