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.