Call for demonstration (German version)
Berlin,
U-Bhf Turmstraße, Oct 22nd 2016, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. // Stop Deportations –
stop deportations to Pakistan, stop Dublin III deportations to Hungary,
stop all deportations!
The
Berlin based Stop Deportation Group calls to show solidarity with
Pakistani refugees and those threatened by deportation under Dublin III.
Join the rally on October 22nd 2016!
Route: From U-Bhf Turmstraße to Pariser Platz (see attachment).
In
2015, the European Union made the decision to deport thousands of
Pakistani refugees to “make room" for so-called “legitimate“ migrants.
Now, this policy is being implemented in German practice: Refugees from
Pakistan are forced to get on the next available charter flight to
Turkey. They will then be deported to Islamabad, Pakistan.
Still,
it becomes quite clear in some cases of asylum procedures that German
authorities simply will not conform to legal standards if these do not
fit their agenda. We protest against programmatic deportation! We demand
ALL asylum procedures to be carried out according to the law! Not only
do Pakistanis suffer from this abuse by German authorities – back in
Pakistan they are threatened by the state's despotism and thus the
possibility of imprisonment. This happens in a huge scale, unseen by the
public.
We, the Stop Deportation Group, call attention to these current issues:
1.
Pakistani refugees are equally entitled to a proper interview, to
describe in detail their motivations to flee their home country.
However, this right is in many cases taken from them by German
authorities.
2.
When deported back to Pakistan they can be randomly incarcerated for no
other reason than having left the country and sought asylum elsewhere.
Such a confinement can last for an indefinite period of time.
One
mandatory part of every refugee’s asylum procedure is the interview. It
is the refugee’s only chance to describe their personal background
story and thereby the reasons for their departure from home. This
information is of crucial importance in an asylum procedure. We have
information about refugees who were never given that chance to present
their case. Some received the invitation to the interview just after the
actual appointment. Others were sent away on the day of their interview
without any further communication. They were then ordered to leave the
country within a few days time as they allegedly had not kept their
appointment. Any form of protest against this procedure is ignored, even
in cases where the management of the refugee’s place of accommodation
can confirm that refugees were not notified about their appointments in
time.
In
Pakistan they are threatened by the state investigative authority’s
caprice (UN 2003) and therefore by immediate incarceration for
violations against art. 4 123-A of the Pakistan Penal Law (PPL) and art.
3 of the 1974 Passport Act. It forbids citizens to leave the country
without valid passport and visa: „No Citizen of Pakistan shall […] visit
a foreign country unless his passport is valid for such country. […] A
citizen of Pakistan who is of the age of twelve years or more shall be
punishable with imprisonment […]“. Now, anyone who is forced to leave
their country to seek asylum, for whatever reason, will probably do so
in every possible way.
To
deny any person their right to asylum and a proper legal procedure in
order to simply “make room“, does nothing except to give rise to new
conflicts among refugees. This is NOT acceptable!
To
deport people to countries where their safety is not guaranteed and
where policies pose threats to their basic human right to freedom - that
is NOT acceptable!
3.
At the same time we are protesting against the Dublin III agreement,
according to which the German authorities still carry out deportations
to countries like Hungary. There, refugees face detention, repression,
criminalisation and inhumane conditions.
This
is why, on Oct. 22nd, we will demonstrate in front of the Hungarian
Embassy to call attention to the repression against refugees and
criminalisation of migration that are currently happening in the
country. We will protest against the criminalisation of the "Röszke 11",
arrested in September 2015 when Hungary put up the fence at the border
to Serbia and changed the law, thereby turning so-called "illegal"
crossings into criminal acts. In July 2016, a court in Szeged Hungary
found ten out of eleven people guilty of “illegal border crossing” and
“participation in a mass riot”.
We
want to show our solidarity with Yamen, Kamel, Farouk and Ahmed, who
are, to this day for more than one year, held captive in Hungary. All of
them have to be given back their freedom immediately!
In
addition, Ahmed H. is facing a seperate trial. He is accused of
“terrorism”. The Hungarian government's accusations are based on nothing
but vague and fabricated proof in addition to contradictory testimonies
given only by police witnesses. He is being framed as a threat to the
Hungarian nation state in particular and to "civilized" Europe in
general.
To
treat cases like Ahmed's as "acts of terrorism", works as an efficient
tool in the hands of government officials and state institutions to
shape the discourse around refugees, transforming those who come to
Europe in search for help into "public enemies".
The
Röszke trials take place within a hostile setting of militarized
European borders that, through utter violence, keep people on the
outside who simply pursue the possibility of forming a peaceful and
meaningful life. This is the reality at the Serbian-Hungarian border,
for instance, where many have been robbed and beaten up by paramilitary
groups. At the same time Hungarian mayors proudly post pictures of
people at the border, who are tied up in dehumanizing poses before they
get deported back to Serbia. The trials are also set aganinst a backdrop
of legal frameworks that generally undergo shameless changes in order
to legitimize more of that violence and avoidance of responsibility in
the near future. And they appear as well in the context of normalized
racist propaganda, such as Hungary's nothing but symbolic referendum on
October 2nd, 2016, letting Hungarian citizens choose between the forced
relocation scheme of the EU and the ‘Hungarian solution’ of fencing off
people completely. The trials reveal the absurdity and extreme
irresponsibility of the European policy of migration and the ruthless
repression by the EU border regime.
(for more information on the Röszke trial, see http://freetheroszke11.weebly.com/.)
Join us and show your solidarity with refugees, on October 22nd, 2016! Stop Deportation!