How is Your Liberation Bound Up With Mine? Anti-racism from different starting positions

For several years conflicts about the possible commonality of various anti-racist struggles determine meetings at conferences and border camps as well as the course of very specific fights. At the heart of the debate is the question of how people with different starting positions, backgrounds and concerns are able to work and fight together. In this workshop we won’t try to give any definite answers to these questions but rather discuss perspectives and difficulties of a common organization.

Local struggles of refugees, sans-papiers, and activists along the edges and centres of Europe. Migration routes via Greece; part 1

Along the migration routes via Greece ‘Welcome to Europe’ invites those interested in an exchange about contemporary struggles and possibilities for support of refugees in transit. How can we, through intensified efforts of networking, make these struggles transnationally and publicly known and thereby strengthen them? How can we create connections so that we can learn from one another? Exchange and short reports of the different experiences, e. g. about the struggles in prisons and camps along the European external borders, with activists from Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, etc. This workshop continues Sunday morning in the workshop Transnational Networks: Arrangements for further collaboration with those who are actively involved in different locations. (w2eu/Infomobile Greece)

Stop Deportation – Between airport action and continuous support work

The workshop is meant as a platform to share and discuss different approaches, ideas, forms of actions, techniques and ways of further support. Possible questions to be discussed are: Which forms of action are possible and effective? How can people be empowered to prevent their own deportation? Are there strategies to prevent deportations before the day of deportation? How should we work together with lawyers, other support structures and NGOs? How can we keep in touch with deported people? (stop deportation group Berlin)

Critical reflection on political motivated support work in Lagers

In Brandenburg, especially in places close to Berlin in the last two years a lot of political motivated visits to the Lager have been taking place. Sometimes it is not transparent to the refugees in the Lager what the activists want there. This creates confusion and disappointments from both sides. In Rheinland-Pfalza concept was developed, how the isolation of asylum seekers can be broken by creating local support structures through local projects. In our workshop, ‚Teachers on the road‘ would like to introduce this approach and reflect it critically together with ‚Women in Exile & Friends‘ on the basis of different experiences. (Women in Exile & Friends http://women-in-exile.net/& Teachers on the road / Netzwerk konkrete Solidarität https://nksnet.wordpress.com/)

Between desert and sea: struggles for freedom of movement in the transit, Afrique-Europe; part 1

At the latest with the externalisation of the EU-border regime up to the African continent the situation, especially in North Africa, has fundamentally changed: On the one hand side refugees and migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa are massively chased on behalf of the EU. On the other hand the societies of the Maghreb are negatively affected by the EU-migration politics themselves. In the workshop activists from Afrique-Europe-Interact will talk about their own experiences in Libya, Tunesia, Algeria, Marocco and Mali. (With Activists from Afrique-Europe-Interact)

Remember and intervene. The NSU killings and the struggles of the victims

With a bang the NSU exposed itself in autumn 2011. Before the killings became known as acts of racism by neonazis, the families of the victims themselves were in the focus of the police investigations. In contrast and largely unseen, including by the antifascist and antiracist movement, in 2006 the bereaved and their supporters organized silent marches in Kassel and Dortmund entitled „No 10th murder“, demanding full investigation of the crimes.

In this workshop we want to recollect the racist media coverage, the investigations against the families of the victims and the struggles of the bereaved. We want to reflect our role as an antirasicm initiative during that time; did we sufficiently discuss the killings? If so, what conclusions did we gather from it? Which initatives do exist in the Rhine-Main region? What is going on in other cities? What can we do in the future? How can we intervene? (Members of the Action alliance against deportations, Rhine-Main)

For a humanitarian right to stay. The special situation of asylum seekers from former Yugoslavia

People from certain countries of origin have little chance to be granted asylum out of several reasons of content and proceedings. This includes people from countries of Ex-Yugoslavia. According to BAMF, asylum applications from Serbia and Macedonia have already been processed accelerated since August of 2012, i.e. rejected in a rush method. This practice was also anchored in the coalition agreement between SPD and CDU by declaring Serbia, Macedonia as „safe countries of origin“. At the same time, the EU exerts pressure on these candidate member states to prevent the emigration of asylum seekers. But this ignores the reasons why people emigrate from these countries to seek refuge in EU countries. These reasons mainly refer to issues of poverty and everyday discrimination and thus require a right to stay out of humanitarian reasons. In the workshop we want to explore the legal and political opportunities to promote such a humanitarian right to stay. 1) Analysis of the legal framework: on which levels of the asylum and immigration law humanitarian reasons for flight can be claimed ? What changes have there been lately ? How big are the chances of different approaches ? Which authorities are responsible in each case ? 2 ) How could a campaign for a humanitarian right to stay look like? Dissemination of information (country information, discourse on „Poverty immigration “ vs . Offensive demands for refugee rights , …) coordination and possibly politicization of single legal processes (eg, collective petitions, increased demands about the responsibility of the local immigration authorities , … ) production of alliance partners, reactions to federal and EU policy-making also outside of refugee work, demonstration(s) for a humanitarian right to stay – countrywide ? (Freiburger Forum aktiv gegen Ausgrenzung und Romacenter Göttingen)

From anti-Lager fight to renting politics

There are fights against the communal accommodation of refugees since years. And also in regions, where accommodation in flats is politically enforced, they setup again communal accommodation. Because the demand of „Flat instead of Lager“ is case of uprising of rents and the governmental decrease of social apartment construction. Refugees are not the only group, who is searching cheap living space in the metropolises. Furthermore they join the long queue of recipient of benefit at the end and this beeing discriminated several times. Right is to upgrade the market position of refugees in the area of the housing market, but the Anti-Lager discussion can not be discussed without the fight against high rents and the discussion around social apartment construction.The workshop will be about experiences in this political areas. (Bündnis gegen Lager Berlin/Brandenburg, http://bglbb.blogsport.de)

Another crack in the wall. Demands and strategies against the European Borderregime after the recent wave of migrant struggles and the tragedy of Lampedusa

After the tragedy that occured on the 3rd of October in the vicinity of Lampedusa, the public critique of the present EU migration and border policies grew as harsh as never before. Public interested was also rooted in the continuously growing, self-organised protests of refugees and migrants across Europe and beyond. The transnational aggregation and consolidation of these struggles has reached a new dimension, the external borders, the inner borders (Dublin) as well as the detention and deportation regime are under pressure.

Given this new european constellation, how can we formulate new politics and assert demands?

With short inputs by Karawane München, Voice Refugee Forum Stuttgart and kein mensch ist illegal Hanau.

Against Dublin III and inner-European deportation regimes

Increasingly, struggles against Dublin III and for inner-European freedom of movement and settlement become publicly known. At the same time there are juridical contestations of deportations occurring in Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Malta and in more and more individual cases deportations have been successfully halted. Publicity and reports concerning the situation of refugees in different countries have contributed to that success. We would like to: – Exchange strategies concerning the struggle against Dublin III and more concretely concerning the Dublin-deportations in the different countries (cue: Italy, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria) – Exchange assessments of what possibilities for intervention may be utilised even more. Included herein are experiences of prevented deportations and church sanctuaries, as well as collective actions such as those of a group of 72 Afghan refugees from Hungary who collectively claimed asylum in Karlsruhe.

How to connect local and transnational struggles – the example Africa – Europe; part 2

We would like to discuss questions like: – How can we bring topics like EU migration policies and the situation in African countries to a broader public? – What are the demands and (how) can they be achieved? – Both are also questions of forms of actions – What kind of structures are good to work together with equal rights and solidarity and which problems and conflicts arise? – How can we deal with strategies of the authorities to divide or appease us and with repression? (with Lampedusa in Hamburg, refugees resettled from Choucha, someone from ARACEM (Mali), refugees who were in Morocco and other activists, among them from Afrique-Europe-Interact.)

„STOP Deportation Camp“ in Eisenhüttenstadt in August/September 2014

In Eisenhüttenstadt a support network with different organisations and individuals has been created. It is focusing in particular on the support for the imprisoned refugees in the deportation prison. Moreover, the network exposes the constant abuse of asylum rights by the collaboration of federal police, local court, BAMF, Ausländerbehörde and the security company BOSS. These actors of the deportation machinery created a grey area where control and transparency of what is happening are not existing at all. On that account, one important demand still is the closing of deportation prisons, in Eisenhüttenstadt as well as elsewhere. Therefore this year in August or September we want to organize a large-scale „Stop deportation camp“. It should take place for several days in front of the gates of the ZAST and the deportation prison in Eisenhüttenstadt. In our imagination this camp could be a place for direct and practical support work against the anti-refugee machinery of repression which is conceived and carried out by the ruling responsables.Furthermore we want to use the opportunity to create and intensify networks in the fight against the German and European policy of deterrence and isolation, also beyond the German-speaking area. Also the creation of local reference points could be possible, may it be for interested youth,civil society or residents in solidarity. Another important“point of action“ apart from possibilities in Eisenhüttenstadt could be the nearby Frankfurt/Oder. These are just some thoughts and imaginations of what could be possible in relation to such a kind of camp. We want to discuss and pursue our ideas with preferably a lot of interested groups and individuals. As a then preferably broadly organized preparation network we would be able to plan and to realize such an „actioncamp“. (The preparation team „stop deportation camp 2014 in Eisenhüttenstadt“)

In the darkness: long lasting „Geduldete“ and „MitwirkungspflichtverletzerInnen“

10, 13, 16 years and more in the Lager, prohibition to work, prohibition of education, prohibition to travel…. They are multiple punished and a lot of them are already traumatiezed, lonly, feel refused and lost their voices. They are not often mentioned in the debate on refugees and asylum in Germany: About these humans, which are just „geduldet“ for many years, because they are accused of not-co-operation with the authorities . We are wishing an exchange with a lot of interested people and also with experts about, how we can lend them a voice and how we can increase their situation. (Johanna Boettcher, Flüchtlingsrat , Schleswig-Holstein, Ismaeel El-Raouf & Bruno Watara, Bündnis gegen Lager Berlin/Brandenburg)

Non Citizen Struggle – Theoretical reflections & practical impulses

The term „Non-Citizens“ is supposed to indicate the fundamental deprivation of rights of people without German citizenship. The self-positioning has caused a lot of discussions and debates, but was also mirroring an intense wave of protests that took place in form of hunger strikes, protest marches and public square occupations. The workshop wants to ask: What is their experience in the months of struggle against Lager, residence obligation and deportations? What are the challenges in the mobilization and organization they have encountered? The workshop also wants to explore the possibilities and prospects of connection and cooperation with other struggles. (Caravan Munich)

Which crisis? Which borders? Discussion about the podium from Saturday evening

In this workshop, we want to pick up the threads discussed in the Saturday evening podium discussion, and deepen the discussion. We will discuss (dis-)advantages of linking antiracist and crisis protests.

Transnational Networks: Arrangements for further collaboration. Migrationroute Greece; part 2

Everyone who is already active in the external European borders and countries of transit and who is interested in substantiating collaboration is invited. What are novel and central insights into the developments within the respective countries (prison, asylum, reception, racism, labour situation) and at the respective borders (push-backs, re-admissions, Dublin-deportations, prison, violence, deaths, etc) that one should inform refugees on their journeys or supporters in countries of arrival about? How can we improve working collectively and at what strategic points (communication, support in individual cases, documentations, networking, etc)? A tool is the web-guide w2eu.info which collects information for refugees and migrants and makes it available in several languages. (w2EU/Infomobil)

Transnational Resistance against the Uranium Mining in Falea (Mali)

Since 2007, explorations of the local uranium deposits are carried out in the municipality Falea in the far South West of Mali. Should the uranium mining which is supposed to begin in 2016 actually take place, not only would this be an ecological disaster. Rather over 20.000 people from 21 villages would lose their livelihoods in the medium and long term. In the workshop we would like to address the question of how the local resistance can be strengthened from Europe – also considering the fact that Afrique-Europe-Interact is striving for a closer cooperation with the Falea activists for quite some time. Because basically Falea is representative for the motto self-organized refugee movements established a long time ago: “We are here because you are destroying our countries!” – and insofar also representative for an approach that is always in danger to be forgotten in the struggles in Europe. (with Activists from Afrique-Europe-Interact)

Migration from Bulgaria and Rumania: Interventions against precarization, exploitation and racism

Migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania are increasingly at the center of racist hate campaigns that recall the rhetoric of the 1990s. Many of the migrants live and work in extremely precarious conditions, are affected by housing shortages and wage fraud. In some places resistances and solidarity support networks are developing. But so far, a countrywide network of individual initiatives is still missing. The workshop shall offer space for exchange of the active groups and for discussions about local strategies and the need for a countrywide campaign. (Initiative Zivilcourage München)

Rightist mobilizations against refugees – Reconcile leftist struggles?

Since the 1990s, anti-fascist and anti-racist struggles go on mostly seperately. Since the disclosure of the NSU and regarding the many self-organized struggles of refugees, the topic anti-racism is given more attention to by the anti-fascist movement – yet only hesitatingly. Facing the increase of racist assaults in 2013 and the initiatives against refugee camps all over, the question arises, if can continue fighting separately? Why is the separation between anti-facism, anti-racism and social struggles that big anyway? With the workshop, we want to try to reflect on the speration of the struggle and discuss about current necessities. Therefore we look back on the history of anti-racist struggles and take a closer look at current initiatives. (Members of the network „Racism kills!“)

“Fight racism, fight sexism“: towards women emancipation

After one year in the refugee occupied school in Kreuzberg Berlin, the IWS would like to share some of the group’s experiences. The political struggle against the racist asylum system have put together very different women: refugee and asylum seeker women, migrant, european and german women. How we women get stronger together to fight beyond the difference of our statuses, backgrounds and experiences? (IWS International Women Space http://asylstrikeberlin.wordpress.com/refugee-women/)

International Caravan to Brussels: transnational cooperation

We are asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented migrants, Europeans with a «migration background», we are all those who have no full citizenship. We are those who wear the label «not from here». Yet our life is here, and like everyone else we just want to build a decent life for us and our families. We decided to organize a European caravan for equality, dignity and social justice. A caravan will therefore go from the largest number of European countries to Brussels (Belgium), where the European institutions are settled. By this action we want to give our own opinion and solutions to our own problems. (preparation group for the march to Brussels, Berlin)

Antimuslim Rassism/Islamophobia

Islamophobia is part of a racist weltanschauung and widespread in Germany and Europe. In the workshop, images of muslims are to be analysed and to be traced in societal contexts, including their role in a racist societal order. Besides contemporary reasons, the perception of islam and „Islampolitik“ can be traced back to the colonial context. (Zubair Ahmad/Constantin Wagner)