Refugees with Attitudes

Refugees Rights Rally

20.06.2022 – In front of Bundestag: Abolish Racist Migration Policies – Equal Rights For All!

Speech by RWA

We tell you Abu’s story:
He fled from Cameroon to Germany 22 years ago. His application for asylum was rejected very quickly, as were almost all applications from African countries at that time. Since then he has been living in a village in Brandenburg with a “Duldung” and is threatened with deportation. For 22 years! For the first 15 years in Germany, he had no chance of attending a German course – German courses for refugees have only been available since 2015. Abu could get a full-time job here in Berlin; he has already applied for a work permit three times. The Foreigners’ Registration Office has refused each time – they want to deport him. The official in charge told him in person: “As long as I work here you will not get a residence permit”.

Now there is finally a draft for a law on a new right to stay regulation. After 5 years in Germany, rejected asylum seekers should also be able to get a so-called “ChancenAufenthalt”. Does Abu have a chance now? No. If the Interior Minister’s bill is passed as it is now, Abu will have no chance, just as with the previous right to stay regulations. This is because according to the draft law, refugees must obtain documents in order to clarify their identity.

The basic principle in German residence law is that papers are more important than people. With this principle, the authorities block family reunification, prevent marriages and partnerships, delay the admission of local Afghan workers and separate families through deportations.
This obligation to submit documents that meet the high standards of the German authorities deprives many people of their life chances. And often not only them but also their families, who are waiting for their support.

Deportation is also not possible without papers, because without a document from the alleged country of origin, it does not accept deportees. But for deportation, a ” laisse-passe paper” or any kind of paper produced in deportation hearings by corrupt officials of the alleged state of origin is enough.

That is unfair? Yes, the whole asylum and residence law is unfair.
The whole right of residence and asylum system pigeonholes refugees and migrants: Those entitled to asylum, those recognized under the Geneva Refugee Convention, those with subsidiary protection, and the undesirables: the tolerated, those “obliged to leave the country”… Each pigeonhole is associated with certain rights or restrictions on human rights.
This is wrong, because they are all refugees, they all have a right to protection.

Nobody flees voluntarily.
That is why we demand a right of residence for all!

O. – Burkina Faso

“I come from a village in Burkina Faso. I never went to school, but always helped my father in agriculture since I was a child.

In view of the lack of job prospects, I left there in 2011. I came to Germany via Greece and the Balkans in 2012, hoping to find work there. I didn’t know anyone there. I then came to Saxony-Anhalt, where I applied for asylum and lived in a home. In the first few years, I at least got money there; from 2016, I only got vouchers. When I applied for asylum, I had no support whatsoever. It was rejected and I was only ever given temporary tolerations. My applications for work permits were also rejected. I was told that I should bring papers (passport). Then I would also get a work permit. I found the situation in the home hard to bear: no contact with the German population, no possibility to learn German; nothing to do or sleep all day. That’s why I decided back in 2013 to live mostly with an acquaintance in Berlin. Because here in Berlin, every now and then I have the opportunity to find short-term jobs through African acquaintances and thus earn a little money to be able to buy something to eat.

Since 2018, I no longer have a toleration permit, so I live without papers. When the ‘Corona time’ started, I had heard from other refugees that there were chances of getting a stay because of Corona. So I made a new application for asylum at the Berlin Foreigners’ Registration Office.

But since I was last registered in Saxony-Anhalt, they referred me to the foreigners authority in Magdeburg. Now I am waiting for an appointment for the hearing.

So far I have had no contact with counselling centres or refugee councils. I have not met any Germans in all these years.”

The contact with us is the first time he has spoken to Germans for a longer period of time.

He has not had any contact with politically active people. The ‘Indivisible’ demo was the first time he had taken part in a demo.

S. – Burkina Faso

“I come from a village in Burkina Faso. I attended primary school there for 5 years.

Because I couldn’t find work in Burkina Faso, I went to Gabon. There I worked for 15 years in a French textile company as a tailor/fashion designer.

In 2016, there was political unrest there. In this context, the factory was set on fire.

(The factory worked mainly with state contracts). Fearing for his life, the French owner fled to the USA. I too feared for my life. Returning to Burkina Faso was out of the question for me. My home country had become a stranger to me and I saw no prospects there. The owner of the company gave me money for the flight to France, where I entered on a tourist visa. I didn’t know anyone there. My attempts to find work there failed. So I decided to go to Germany in 2017.

In Saxony-Anhalt, I applied for asylum. It was rejected. As I had no knowledge of counselling centres, I did not get any support. Since then, I have been living with a toleration permit, which I have to have renewed every 3 months. Twice I applied for a work permit.

The second time I even found a tailor in Berlin who wanted to employ me.

The applications were rejected. Since the situation in the home is terrible, I have been living mostly in Berlin with a friend for some time. I get money according to the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act. From time to time I earn some extra money by doing small sewing jobs for friends.

In view of the difficult situation in Germany, I went to France again last year and applied for asylum there. After the authorities there realised that I was already registered in Germany, I was deported back there.

Since March, I have been attending an A 2 language course in Berlin. I don’t know what to do next.”

Y. – Burkina Faso

“I am from a village in the southwest of Burkina Faso. I had a big fight with the local authorities there. I could no longer live well there. In 2012, I fled to Germany via Niger, Libya, Greece and the Balkans. I had heard from other refugees that I would find work there.

I applied for asylum in 2012. My application was soon rejected. I then lived for several years in a shelter for asylum seekers in Saxony-Anhalt. I only had language classes there for one month. I only ever had a ‘Duldung’, which I had to extend every six months. My applications for a work permit were rejected.

Through acquaintances I had heard about the possibility of getting papers in Italy. That only cost money, but didn’t help.

While I had received money in the beginning, later I received less money and vouchers. Then I was told to work for 80 cents an hour. I thought that was too little and refused. Finally, my toleration was not extended because I did nothing to get papers. Three years ago I left the asylum centre and moved to Hamburg. Since then I have been living there without papers. Every now and then I find jobs to earn my living. I live with an acquaintance. I have few contacts there – neither with Germans nor with other refugees. But I don’t miss that either, because I’m a rather quiet, reserved person. I’m not afraid of police checks, because I haven’t done anything wrong. When I was checked once, I showed my ‘toleration’. Although it had expired, they let me go.

I got used to living without papers, but of course it would be better if I could live here legally. That’s why I think it’s good that you’re doing such an initiative.”

Ahmed – Iraq

Ahmed comes from Iraq, he came to Germany in 1998, to Möhlau in Saxony-Anhalt. In 2002, he received a negative decision on his asylum application. In 2005 he was granted toleration.

Under pressure from the Aliens’ Registration Office, he decided to apply to the European Commission for his Iraqi passport. The passport was sent by Ahmed’s family via DHL, but never arrived with him.
Ahmed suspects that the shipment was intercepted by the police and handed over to the Aliens Department, but the Aliens Department denies this and is holding him in the home in Vockerode, Saxony-Anhalt. Ahmed has now been trying to return to his home country for more than 10 years.

Numerous asylum seekers have handed in their passports to the foreigners authority. The authorities often claim that these asylum seekers have not yet been identified and that their identification is still in progress

Yousouf – Togo

Yousouf is originally from Togo. He came to Germany in 2001 and was sent to Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern after applying for asylum. Four years later, like many other asylum seekers, he received a negative decision.

During these 4 years he had tried to get a work permit. He was not allowed to go to school and learn the German language or to leave the asylum camp where he was held. In 2005, he was granted a toleration. The pressure from the foreigners authority was very hard on him and after some time he became seriously ill. In 2017, when he had already almost finished with life, he finally received his residence permit.

Yousouf came to Berlin with a friend in November 2018 to renew his passport and had since disappeared. Three weeks later we found him in a Berlin hospital, he was in a coma. From there he was then transferred to a hospital in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Yousouf stayed in this hospital where he lost not only his appetite but also his ability to speak. He never left the hospital and died there on 01 October 2021.

Justin – Cameroon

Justin is from Cameroon and came to Germany in 2006. He applied for asylum and was transferred to Brandenburg.

“I waited every day for the answer to my asylum application. We were not allowed to stay outside the camp and once I came back to the home, I heard my friends talking about the conditions they were living in and I thought to myself at the time that maybe it was their fault and that they just didn’t want to work. Two years later I realised I was wrong. In 2009 I finally got the answer to my application and it was negative. During those 3 years I thought a lot; should I go back to my country or stay? I had to make a decision that I will regret for the rest of my life. Before I left Cameroon, I took money from my family and friends for the visa and ticket, which I have not yet paid back.”

– What happened?

“In 2013, I wanted to extend my stay but it was revoked and I was given a toleration. With the little money I had saved, I tried to get a lawyer. I have finally been out of the home for 2 years now, I am in Berlin. I only have problems when I’m sick, but I’m sick very often.”

– How do you feel now?

“I feel lonely because I have no one in my life. I haven’t heard from my parents or relatives for more than 8 years. I feel so empty that I often just cry. I don’t know if my parents and relatives know that I am still alive.”

Armine

Armine came to Germany in 2003 and applied for asylum the day after he arrived in Horst, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He was then taken to Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

“In Ludwigslust I applied for a work permit for 1 year, which I only got in 2006, the year I also received the rejection of my asylum application.

I looked for a lawyer in Schwerin, to whom I paid 50 euros per month, because I was told that he could make sure I got my work permit and could then go to work. I paid the lawyer until 2009 without getting the work permit or residence. I only had the toleration they gave me. The lawyer had to go to the social welfare office to apply for a work permit and he did. But every time I found a job, they told me it was a German job. The pressure from the Foreigners’ Registration Office made me lose sleep.

I became very ill and at some point I had no more strength to continue. I have been living without papers since 2016.”

Jeff

Jeff came to Germany in 1998. He applied for asylum in Halberstadt and was taken to a home in Saxony-Anhalt.

In his first years in Germany, he had a German girlfriend and also spent Christmas at his girlfriend’s house.
However, he suffered from chronic stomach pains and was taken to hospital after collapsing. After a few days in hospital, he went back to the home. Shortly after, he noticed that his girlfriend stopped coming to visit him.

One day he asked one of his friends why his girlfriend did not come. He told him that a social worker had called his girlfriend and the home and told them that Jeff had AIDS. Apparently, the girlfriend had stopped visiting him because of this. The stunned Jeff called the hospital to inquire. There he was assured that he did not have AIDS. Jeff suspects that the woman from the social welfare office claimed this to keep his girlfriend away from him.
One of his friends, who comes from the same village as him, visited this village and also told Jeff’s family this untruth.

Since 1998, i.e. for 24 years, Jeff has been living in Germany with a toleration. Jeff has been politically active in various groups for many years and fights for the rights of refugees.

Refugees are often in need of grace of those who are supposed to help them.

Alex – Tibet

Alex was Tibetan. Along with Danny, he was one of my best friends in the asylum Siedlung 2, Crivitz, or the ‘Crivitz Dschungel Heim Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’ (as the press called it in those days). One day, during a conversation, Alex let me know that he had two children. The eldest was 2 years and 3 months old when he left them. He had now been here for 16 years and his eldest child was now turning 18.

“I left them to come here and work and support them.”

Crivitz was closed and we came to Parchim. In 2006, I also left Parchim and left the friends there. In 2011 I got a call from Parchim and they told me that Alex was dead.
I went to Parchim to meet the head of the home and tell him that Alex had two children and they should be notified. The head of the home tells me it’s none of my business. After 2 months of online research, I finally reached the eldest son.

“Are you Alex’s son?” I asked him. “Yes, he is my father and he told us that he will come soon.” “Your father is dead,” I replied. – “No, no, get my father on the phone for me,” he said.

Alex died after more than 25 years here in Germany without ever seeing his children again. 

Danny – Mauretanien

Danny is Mauritanian with Ivorian parents and came to Germany in 2000.

When I met him, he spoke fluent French, English, Spanish, Italian and Russian in addition to his mother tongue. Between 2000 and 2003, he stayed with me at the Crivitz home. He rarely stayed there and often went to Hamburg. In 2004, he was arrested for violating the residency requirement and went to prison for 3 months. When Danny was released and they took him back to the home, Danny went crazy.

In 2009 he was granted residency on humanitarian grounds.

I looked for his parents to inform them, but unfortunately could not find them. Danny now lives in Schwerin in a flat and has a carer as he cannot look after himself. When I visited him in the winter of 2019, the heating in his flat was broken and there was only one lamp whose bulb still worked. I offered to ask the caregiver to get in touch with him. He did not receive a call, however, the installations in his flat were repaired two weeks later.
He has not been in Schwerin for six months and we have no information about where he is now.

There are many refugees here who no longer have any contact with their families or friends.

Koffi – Togo

Koffi comes from Togo, he came to Germany in 2004 and applied for asylum in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. After two months he was transferred to a home in Mecklenburg. In 2009 he receives his rejection. He appeals, but nothing happens. He then gets his toleration extended every month. In 2011 he goes to the foreigners authority.

“I asked them if I have a chance to stay here and work. ‘We don’t know yet,’ they told me at the Foreigners’ Registration Office.
After a while I went there again and told them that I wanted to go back home but not arrive directly in my country. I wanted to land in a neighbouring country, cross the border and go home. They said they would understand. I went to extend my stay and this time they gave me a residence permit for 6 months. I asked them why they were giving me 6 months. ‘We are working on it,’ they answered me.

After those 6 months, I went back to renew my stay. They gave me a work permit and told me to start looking for work. I thought things would get better now.
I found a job and worked for 3 years. It was the end of the month, I had one day off and nothing to eat at home. In the morning I was about to go to the bank to get money and go shopping when my doorbell rang. I opened the door and there were five policemen standing there telling me to get my things because I was now being deported…. I felt dizzy.
I went to get my shoes from the balcony. I don’t know how I landed on the floor from the fifth floor. I only realised when I woke up from the coma.” 

Abdoulaye – Senegal

Abdoulaye left Senegal in 1999. He applied for asylum in Eisenhüttenstadt the same year and was taken to a home in Brandenburg.

“I was in the tenth grade when I left school. My girlfriend had become pregnant and her parents were furious. I left her behind to take care of us in Europe.

When I arrived here, I found out that I had to apply for asylum, which I did in Eisenhüttenstadt. One and a half months later, I was transferred to an asylum camp far outside the city.
At first I still managed to send my girlfriend 50 to 100 marks, even though I was starving myself. After a while I learned that in order to work I needed a work permit from the Foreigners’ Registration Office.
I tried to get that, but each time I was told to look for a job and then come back for the permit. When I found a job and wanted to get the permit, I was told that I was not entitled to that kind of work. So I stayed in the camp. Not because I liked it, but because of the residency requirement.

After 6 years, I got a refusal for the first time in 2005. That was the moment my life changed. Some time later I broke off contact with my girlfriend and I don’t know what happened to her.
Since then I have been living with toleration.”

Camp at Oranienplatz

21.09.2021 – commemoration of the camp at Oranienplatz: Speech by Bruno

We are standing here at Oranienplatz. This is where the protest march of refugees against the Residenzpflicht ended in 2012. I would like to tell you how this protest march came about.

At the end of January 2012, Mohammad Rahsepar took his own life in the refugee camp in Würzburg. He had already expressed suicidal thoughts in December. Doctors had therefore recommended to the responsible authorities to improve his accommodation situation. He wanted to join his sister in Cologne, but the authorities refused because of the residence obligation.  This triggered a wave of protests throughout Germany.

The residence obligation does not exist in any other European country. Its origins go back to colonial times. For example, people in the then German colony of Togo had to stay in one district. Even within the capital Lome, people were not allowed to move freely. My grandmother, who lived in Lome, told me about this.

The National Socialists made compulsory residence a law for forced labourers in their 1938 police regulations. In 1982, the legislators resumed the regulation and enshrined it in the Asylum Procedure Act for asylum seekers.

Until the end of 2014, all asylum seekers had to get permission from the foreigners authority every time they wanted to leave their district. Sometimes they got permission, most of the time they did not.

In the late 90s, the authorities used the residency requirement to prevent asylum seekers from engaging in political activities. At every demo, congress and meeting we had to find a way to deal with controls.

At the end of 2014, the residency requirement was relaxed for some of the asylum seekers. After the first three months in Germany, they are now allowed to move around the whole of Germany without a permit. In theory, at least. Because there are numerous reasons for exclusion from this supposed “freedom of movement”. Above all, refugees with toleration are still at the mercy of the authorities. The foreigners authorities can shackle them to the district at any time. 

The asylum system shoves us into pigeonholes: Those entitled to asylum, those recognised under the Geneva Refugee Convention, those with subsidiary protection, tolerated persons and those “obliged to leave the country”… Each pigeonhole is associated with certain rights or restrictions of rights.

This, too, has its roots in colonial times: the idea that human rights do not apply to everyone.

Something else has its roots in colonial times: it is also the German economy that creates causes of flight by exploiting other countries.

For example, Africa, one of the richest continents in the world, has been shackled, plundered and hindered in its development since colonial times.

And Germany, with the EU’s policy, creates causes of flight by cooperating with many dictatorships in the world. The EU cooperates with many torture states in so-called “border protection projects”. The rulers of Europe do not care about human rights violations and torture in these states.

And with German weapons, wars are waged all over the world and the German economy profits from them.

Against this background, we refugees and our families all have a right to freedom of movement and a life in Germany! Because there can be no fair asylum procedures in Germany.

Fair asylum procedures that would be a procedure in which a German authority has to prove that Germany has no share of responsibility for our reasons for fleeing and is not a beneficiary of the situation from which we fled.

Therefore:

No human being is illegal! Right to stay everywhere!

Fredom of movement is everybodys right! We are here and we will fight!

Indivisible Demonstration – Refugee Block

04.09.2021 – Participation in the Refugee Block of the Indivisible Demonstration in Berlin

Toleration and work bans

Juni 2021

An endless loop of isolation and humiliation: Most refugees and migrants from a non-EU country are only granted a very precarious status under aliens law. The asylum applications are rejected. Afterwards, most of them live here with with a ‘toleration’.

The toleration is always limited in time and must be renewed at intervals. During a toleration period, a person is “obliged to leave the country” but cannot be “obliged to leave the country, but cannot be deported. Deportation is always possible once the toleration has expired. In addition a toleration can be terminated at any time without notice. Therefore a person with a toleration status is always threatened with deportation.

Some of us know from our own experience what this means. Desperate emergency calls from refugees in collective accommodation have encouraged us to have strengthened our resolve to talk more intensively with those affected.

We visited collective centres in various regions and spoke with refugees refugees who could no longer endure this situation and were now and are now living in ‘illegality’. They told us that they live in in constant fear and see no chance of building an independent existence and existence and to shape their lives independently.

In addition, their often traumatic experiences in their country of origin and during their journey to Germany country of origin and during their journey to Germany, due to a lack of psychological support here.
With a toleration permit, it is also very difficult to obtain a work permit. to obtain a work permit. Some are even banned from working with different are even punished with a work ban. In addition persons are subject to a blanket work ban after the law that came into force on 21.08.2019, with a “Duldung light” are subject to a blanket work ban – as well as a residence requirement. This means that refugees and migrants without work remain

Thus, refugees and migrants without work remain dependent on social benefits and cannot leave their reception centres or other collective accommodation (camps) under these conditions – even after years. This means that they are not allowed to move to a place of their choice. Even a short stay in another federal state can earn them a fine.

These collective accommodations for refugees and migrants are often old military barracks in remote locations with no public public transport connections. All these hurdles hinder the search for employment and any participation in society; e.g. also integration and German courses, which are not offered in the shelters.

Many know neither the way in nor out of this situation, which often lasts for years and for years and sometimes even decades!
They are desperate and fall ill. Time and again, suicide is the only way people find to end their hopeless situation.

Others decide to “go underground” in order to escape deportation or to deportation or to lead a self-determined life. They are thus illegalised and extremely defenceless and exploitable.

Since 01.08.2015, Germany has had a so-called right of abode regulation that does not depend on a specific date. This means that people with a toleration permit who have been in Germany for a long time, can, under certain conditions, be granted a secure residence permit residence permit on the grounds of “sustainable integration”.

A possible right to stay is no longer tied to a cut-off date and and can be granted if the respective foreigners authority determines “successful integration”. However: “From the information provided by the Bundestag printed matter 18/11101 of 07.02.2017, it can be read that the right of abode regulation according to §§25a and b of the Residence Act for for long-term tolerated persons is largely ineffective.

There is an enormous discrepancy between the number of potentially entitled persons and the residence rights actually granted.”

Those who are deprived of all access to participation in society and who are who are deprived of all access to social participation and have to live in constant fear integrate into society.

We therefore demand a right to stay for all!
And we demand

For the right to freedom of movement

June 2021

Article 1 of the Charter of Human Rights states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.
And Article 13 “confers on everyone the right to move freely within his country and to leave any country, including his own”.

The reality is different: People from the rich industrialised nations move around the world as a matter of course. People from the global south, on the other hand, are denied this right.

Overwhelmingly, this reality is seen as ‘normal’ in rich countries like Germany. We do not share this view. Among other reasons, we do not share it because we believe that rich countries are largely responsible for flight and migration.

Instead of facing up to this responsibility, they predominantly rely on deterrence and isolation: with the expansion of ‘Fortress Europe’, deportations and restrictive practices that deny many refugees and migrants a dignified life.

From their point of view, refugees are a problem, a cost factor or a cultural threat.

We oppose this and are committed to a right of asylum and residence that enables refugees to become an equal part of this society and against all restrictions that hinder this.

This requires a radical departure from the policy of deterrence and isolation – for a society of cultural diversity.

Pan-African Vision

June 2021

For real and complete economic and political self-determination of African countries

We look back with anger on centuries of economic exploitation, political oppression and cultural dispossession in Africa. Formal political independence has done little to change this.

Colonial governors have now been replaced by small African elites who dominate political and economic decisions in more or less dictatorial regimes. In dependence or close coordination with the large industrial nations, they guarantee their interest in the further exploitation of Africa’s natural resources. They support the flooding of African markets with the products of multinational corporations. And last but not least, they cooperate in the relocation of ‘Fortress Europe’ to Africa.

In many African countries, resistance to this is rising and pan-African ideas of solidarity among African countries for real economic and political self-determination are gaining influence.

We really hope that Africa’s growing self-confidence will help to strengthen this vision.

Demonstration “We are all Salah”

21.03.2021 – Participation in the mourning demonstration “We are all Salah” in Eberswalde on the occasion of the suicide of an refugee from Chad.

Demonstration in Doberlug-Kirchhain

05.09.2020 We’ll come united! – Speech by ‘Réenchanter l’Afrique’

In the current “Corona crisis” there is much talk of ‘solidarity’. But does it apply to all people?

Our solidarity should also and especially apply to those who are invisible, who live in precarious conditions in the shadow of society. People who have fled poverty, oppression, persecution, dictatorships and war to come to Germany. They hoped to find safety and a better future here. They would like to learn the language, find work and an apartment, support their families and lead a self-determined life.

This is often denied to them. In many cases, instead of welcoming them, they are only ‘tolerated’ and have to live for years without a work permit in inhumane conditions:

• often in precarious asylum accommodations, isolated from the locals
• often without any chance to learn the German language
• without the right to work to earn their own living
• without a possibility to support their families
• confronted with everyday racism and humiliation
• confronted with bureaucratic requirements that they do not understand or simply cannot meet
• and repeatedly threatened by deportation

First, many had to suffer the often traumatizing experiences in their country of origin and on the flight. Now they must face these experiences in Germany. Many are desperate, plagued by nightmares, and live in constant fear. This inhumane life in Germany make refugees mentally ill instead of giving them the hoped-for security and future prospects.

In our group ‘Réenchanter l’Afrique’ there are also people who have gone through these experiences. And many thousand still experience them. Countless people are forced to live here without papers – completely without rights, which makes them particularly easy to exploit.
And on top of that they are outlawed as so-called criminals.

Article 1 of the German constitution states: “Human dignity is inviolable”.
“Everyone has the right to free development of personality.”

We find it unacceptable that these basic rights do not apply to refugees.

And we find it unacceptable that freedom of movement, the right to earn one’s own living and the right to choose one’s own place of living are a matter of course for people from the rich industrial countries here, but not for most of the people from Africa, Asia or Latin America.

Our demand:
All people who live here must be given the right to work and determine their place of residence themselves!

Solidarity is indivisible!

Let us ensure that this is also experienced by those who live invisible in the shadow of our society and that their inhumane living situation is made public again and again!

We’ll come united!


“Indivisible” demonstration in Berlin

14.6.2020 – “Indivisible” demonstration: Speech by ‘Réenchanter l’Afrique’ at the Band of Solidarity

In the current “Corona crisis” there is a lot of talk about ‘solidarity’. Does it apply to all people?

Our solidarity today is especially for those who are invisible, who live in the shadows of society.
People who fled to Germany from poverty, oppression, persecution, dictatorships and war. They hoped to find better prospects for the future here. They want to learn the language, find work and a place to live, support their families and relatives and lead a self-determined life.

This is often denied them. Instead of being welcomed, they are only ‘tolerated’ and have to live in undignified conditions for years:

First the often traumatising experiences in their home countries and on the run, and now these experiences in Germany. Many become ill from this, are desperate, plagued by nightmares.

In our group ‘Réenchanter l’Afrique’ there are also people who have had these experiences. And many thousands are still going through them. Untold numbers are forced to live here without papers – completely without rights and particularly easy to exploit. And also ostracised as ‘criminals’.

Article 1 of the German Basic Law states: “Human dignity is inviolable. Everyone has the right to free development of his or her personality.

We find it intolerable that these basic rights do not apply to refugees.

And we find it unacceptable that freedom of movement, the right to determine one’s own place of life, only applies to people from the rich industrialised nations and not to people from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Solidarity is indivisible!

Let us ensure that it is also experienced by those who live invisibly in the shadows of our society and that their undignified living situation is repeatedly named publicly.

Demonstration against Franc-CFA

14.9.2019 – Speech on the demonstration

Africa, the richest continent in the world, has been in chains for many years. It is being plundered and impoverished. Every day we can see how not only its wealth – but also its dear and brave children are being stolen from it. Europe’s policies are responsible for this.

Today, many complain about immigration, which they consider the invasion of Europe by Africans. Unfortunately, they do not ask about the causes of this so-called “invasion”.
For us, at Africa Europe Together Strong, one of the causes of African immigration to Europe is the <<franc CFA>>. Yes, the CFA franc, this colonial currency introduced by France in 1945 in the colonised countries to control, dominate, enslave and plunder all our wealth.

This currency is the origin of many of the evils from which our continent suffers. The Franc CFA is a cause of our brothers and sisters fleeing Africa. Our brothers and sisters who have no other choice in the face of poverty, lack of proper care, crises and wars.  They gather all their courage to dare the adventure towards a better future – confronted with the inevitable danger of the Mediterranean and the desert.

With the CFA, France is getting richer every day – becoming the owner of the third largest gold reserve in the world. This, without having any gold reserves of its own. If we look at the case of Mali, the French military base has become in parallel a gold mining base from which gold is shipped to France. At the same time, African peoples suffer from hunger, precarious health care and die trying to escape hardship.

How are we to understand that a currency that supposedly belongs to Africans is printed, owned and controlled by France? A France that holds sway in African monetary institutions and devalues the franc at will.  A France that decides to what extent the currency circulates in the countries that use the CFA?
Today, when the consciousness of the African peoples is awakening about the nature of the CFA, France wants to establish a new form of currency called “ECO”. We do not need and will never accept the foreign-dominated currency “ECO”.

Let us remember that all those who tried to lead their countries and Africa to success as patriots and turn their backs on France and the CFA franc were eliminated under the command of France.
Sylvanus Olympio of Togo, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Muhammar Gaddafi of Libya and numerous others have become victims of the colonial interests of France and Europe.

It is now time for us, the sons and daughters of Africa, with the unwavering support of our partners, the German citizens, to stand up and say no to this currency of servitude that has prevented us from our sovereign development and led us into poverty for decades until today.

We must stand up, fight this currency and its substitute the ECO until they are gone and no longer stand in the way of Africa’s monetary sovereignty.

Therefore, as a group “Africa Europe Together Strong”, in parallel with the NGO Pan-African Emergency, we invite all sons and daughters of Africa, all friends of Africa, all those who aspire to an independent Africa, to join us and demonstrate again here in Berlin, at Pariser Platz against the existence of this evil currency.  The Franc CFA is one of the sources of the problems of our mother Africa.


ALL TOGETHER FOR AFRICA’S MONETARY INDEPENDENCE

see also – Texts: What is the CFA franc

What is the CFA franc ?

In 1945, as a colonial power, France introduced a currency in various African countries that was initially linked to the value of the French franc: the “CFA franc”, “Colonies Francaises d’Afrique” franc.
The CFA has remained the valid currency in most of the countries affected, even after their independence. After France joined the euro zone, France and the other members of the euro zone set a fixed exchange rate to the euro.

Of the 14 countries in which the CFA franc is still a means of payment today, 8 countries belong to the “West African Economic and Monetary Union” (UEMOA):
Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo

In these countries, the CFA franc bears the name of
Franc de la Communauté Financière d’Afrique

Another 6 countries whose currency is the CFA franc belong to the “Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa” (CEMAC):
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad

In these countries, the CFA franc bears the name of
Franc de la Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale

“The fate of the CFA is decided in Paris and Frankfurt. But the priorities of Europe are not those of the African countries” (Demba Moussa Dembele)

How does the colonial system CFA franc work today?

What does the colonial system CFA franc mean for the people and the economy in the affected African states?

What consequences does this have for the 155 million people in the CFA currency area?

CFA must disappear!

For a sovereign African common currency!

Enough’s enough:

African economy for Africa!

That’s enough:

Africa’s money must not be deposited in banks of France!

Africa’s money belongs to Africa!

France:

Hands off Africa’s money!

Away with the CFA!

CFA = means French colonial currency in Africa

     = means Exploitation of Africa by Europe