On the occasion of the United Nations World Refugee Day on June 20, 2014, the member organizations of the Berlin Development Policy Council (BER) and other organizations call for a residence permit for the refugees of the evacuated protest camp at Berlin’s Oranienplatz.
Press release of the Berlin Development Policy Council (BER)
Berlin, June 19, 2014
World Refugee Day – Grant refugees at Berlin’s Oranienplatz residence now!
Development organizations show solidarity with refugees in Berlin
On the occasion of the United Nations World Refugee Day on June 20, 2014, the member organizations of the Berlin Development Policy Council (BER) and other organizations call for a residence permit for the refugees of the evacuated protest camp at Berlin’s Oranienplatz.
The Berlin Development Policy Council (BER) today publishes the Luhmer Appeal, in which development policy organizations in Berlin show solidarity with the refugees of the evacuated protest camp at Berlin’s Oranienplatz. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, they demand a residence permit for them according to §23 (1) of the Residence Act. The United Nations created the day to draw attention to the problems of refugees worldwide.
“The causes of flight lie in the unjust economic system that has its origins in colonialism,” says Sylvia Werther, spokeswoman for BER. “Berlin, as a cosmopolitan and international metropolis, has a special developmental responsibility for refugees.”
The 109 member organizations of the BER state association address the global causes and consequences of flight and migration in their work and work to raise awareness of these issues in all districts of Berlin.
Since 2012, refugees from different regions of the world have been in Berlin to draw attention to the inhumane refugee policy in Germany. After the eviction of the protest camp at Oranienplatz on April 8, 2014, 326 registered refugees had been assured that their stay would be examined in individual proceedings. The procedure started on June 11, in the meantime one refugee was threatened with deportation.
“The granting of residence according to §23 of the Residence Act for the refugees of Oranienplatz would be the right signal to initiate a rethinking of refugee policy,” says Sylvia Werther of BER. “For this to take place, we call on other initiatives to support the appeal!”
Contact: Sylvia Werther (BER) 030 – 498 553 80, werther@ber-ev.de
Further information
Luhmer Appeal: June 2014 – Declaration of Solidarity with the Refugees in Berlin
Expert Opinion of the Scientific Services, German Bundestag: Possibilities of Granting a Residence Permit on Humanitarian Grounds