Statement on the events in the State Initial Reception Center (LEA) for asylum seekers in Ellwangen on the occasion of the prevention of a deportation.<\/p>\n
May 07, 2018 | Declaration on Ellwangen (English and French: below). <\/strong>Civil courage is necessary, not criminal – solidarity with the resistance of refugees against deportations!<\/strong><\/p>\n Statement by: Afrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo.<\/p>\n On April 30, 2018, residents of the State Initial Reception Center (LEA) for asylum seekers in Ellwangen \/ Baden-W\u00fcrtemberg jointly prevented the Dublin deportation of a young man from Togo to Italy. They surrounded the patrol car in which the police wanted to take away their roommate and enforced that handcuffs had to be taken off him and that he could leave. According to reports, 150 to 200 people participated in this action of spontaneous collective resistance.<\/p>\n First of all, we would like to express our thanks and respect to the residents of the Ellwangen camp who were involved. They did what was humanly obvious and necessary: they rushed to the aid of a distressed person who was to be torn from their midst and deported by force and violence. With their bodies and their voices, they have shown solidarity and civil courage against an overpowering state apparatus, even though their own lives in Germany are more than precarious. Their actions are a model for all of us who do not want to resign ourselves to a culture of deportations, in which it is supposedly normal for people to be torn from our midst every day.<\/p>\n We protest in the strongest terms against the large-scale police operation, with which the solidary action of the refugees was answered. With the declared aim of “breaking resistance,” martial-appearing special police units stormed the camp in the early morning hours of May 3. They arrested the man, who was freed the day before, and checked 292 residents. People were torn from their sleep by the police and tied up with cable ties. Eleven residents were injured, some of them when they jumped out of the windows out of fear. 10 people accused of being “troublemakers” are to be moved to other shelters. If civil courage is punished in such a way, if refugees are beaten into only suffering quietly and not resisting injustice and arbitrariness under any circumstances, then this does not reveal an understanding of the rule of law, but rather the thought patterns of an authoritarian authoritarian state.<\/p>\n Furthermore, we oppose the deep-seated racism that is revealed in the media coverage as well as in the public statements of politicians from AFD and CDU\/CSU to the Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg Greens about the events in Ellwangen, when refugees, especially from African countries, are stereotyped as either dangerous, violent or inflamed “hordes”. Such speech is not only degrading, but also dangerous because it prepares the ground for future acts of racist violence.<\/p>\n What is urgently needed, on the other hand, is to take a serious look at the reasons why a young person flees Togo. The West African country, once colonized by Germany, has been ruled for 51 years by a dictatorial presidential regime that was passed on from Eyad\u00e9ma Gnassingb\u00e9 to his son Faure Gnassingb\u00e9, who to this day strictly refuses to relinquish power. The Togolese regime has only been able to hold its own for so long through political and economic cooperation with the former colonial powers – among other things, Germany has so far steadfastly continued to pay so-called development funds that help to bolster the regime in Togo. Since August 2017, large parts of the population in Togo have taken to the streets to demand political democratization and the departure of President Faure Gnassingb\u00e9. The regime is trying to suppress the mass protests with brutal repression. The seriousness of the current situation has so far not been adequately reflected in the situation reports of the Federal Foreign Office and in the decision-making practice of the BAMF regarding asylum applications of Togolese refugees. If one speaks of the rule of law, consistent action would be required here!<\/p>\n Another necessary consequence to be drawn from events such as those in Ellwangen would be to finally acknowledge the failure of the Dublin regulation – failure above all in the sense of the refugees who are subject to it. If a Togolese asylum seeker is not willing to be deported from Germany to Italy, there are reasons for this. This is because many of the African refugees arriving in Italy live there in complete poverty and lack of prospects. The Dublin system denies them a safe foothold elsewhere in Europe, and many refugees are thus chased from country to country across Europe without rights for years. To change this state of affairs would be necessary not least in the sense of a collective responsibility of all EU states for the survivors of the deadly flight and migration routes through the Sahara and across the Mediterranean. After all, it is the EU states that have allowed many thousands of people to die in the Mediterranean and Sahara through their denial of safe travel routes and the establishment of rigid migration controls. Enabling the survivors to arrive safely and to process their traumatizing flight experiences would be the very least.<\/p>\n We demand from those responsible in Baden W\u00fcrtemberg:<\/p>\n In addition, we demand:<\/p>\n Signatories: 07 May 2018 | Declaration on Ellwangen<\/strong> Declaration by Afrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo<\/p>\n Declaration on the events at the Centre for Asylum Seekers (Landeserstaufnahmestelle (LEA) f\u00fcr Asylsuchende) in Ellwangen on the occasion of the prevention of a deportation<\/strong><\/p>\n On 30 April 2018 inhabitants of the Centre for Asylum Seekers (Landeserstaufnahmestelle (LEA) f\u00fcr Asylsuchende) in Ellwangen \/ Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg prevented the Dublin deportation of a young man from Togo to Italy. Together they surrounded a police car with which the police wanted to take away their fellow habitant and managed to achieve that his handcuffs had to be removed and he had to be let go. According to reports, 150 to 200 people took part in this act of spontaneous collective resistance.<\/p>\n We would like to first of all express our gratitude and respect to the inhabitants of the Ellwangen Lager. They did what was obvious and necessary in human terms: to come to the aid of a hated human being that was to be pulled out of their midst and deported with force and violence. They showed true solidarity and civil courage with their bodies and voices against an all-powerful state apparatus, even though their own lives in Germany are more than precarious. Their action is exemplary for all of us who do not want to resign themselves to a culture of deportations, in which it is allegedly normal that people are taken out of our midst on a daily basis.<\/p>\n We strongly criticise the huge police operation as a response to the act of solidarity of the refugees. With the declared aim “breaking resistance”, special units of the police stormed the camp in a warlike fashion in the early hours of 3 May. They arrested the man who had been liberated the day before and controlled 292 inhabitants. People were woken sharply and handcuffed with cable ties. Eleven inhabitants were injured, some because they jumped out of the windows out of fear. 10 people who are accused of being the “troublemakers” are supposed to be transferred to other centers. If civil courage is punished in such a way, if people seeking refuge are beaten into just enduring in silence and not – under no circumstance – oppose injustice and arbitrariness, this does not reveal an understanding of the rule of law, but the thought patterns of an authoritarian state.<\/p>\n What is more, we stand up against the deeply seated racism that came to light in the media coverage as well as in the public statements of politicians ranging from AFD and CDU\/CSU to the Green Party of Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg with regard to the events at Ellwangen: refugees have been stereotyped as either dangerous, violent or inflamed “hordes”. Such a language is not only degrading, but also dangerous because it prepares the ground for future racist acts of violence.<\/p>\n In contrast, it would be urgently needed to deal seriously with the reasons why a young man from Togo is fleeing his country. In this West African country that used to be colonised by Germany a dictatorial presidential regime has been ruling for 51 years. Eyad\u00e9ma Gnassingb\u00e9 transmitted his rule to his son Faure Gnassingb\u00e9 who strictly refuses to give up power. The Togolese regime could only stay in power due to the political and economic cooperation with the former colonial power – amongst others, Germany continues to provide financial, so-called development aid that bolsters the regime. Since August 2017, large parts of the population have taken to the streets in Togo to obtain political democratisation and the resignation of President Faure Gnassingb\u00e9. The regime tries to suppress the mass protests with brutal violence. The severity of the current situation has until now not been acknowledged appropriately by the status reports of the Foreign Office and in the decision making practice of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees on asylum applications by Togolese refugees. If one speaks of the rule of law, it would require consistent action in this regard!<\/p>\n Another necessary conclusion to draw from events such as in Ellwangen would be to finally acknowledge the failure of the “Dublin” regulations – a failure first of all with regards to the refugees who are subject to it. If a Togolese asylum seeker is not prepared to be deported We demand from the officials in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg:<\/p>\n Furthermore, we demand:<\/p>\n Signed by: ————————————<\/p>\n D\u00e9claration par : Afrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo<\/p>\n D\u00e9claration concernant les \u00e9v\u00e9nements au camp de r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s de Ellwangen (Landeserstaufnahmestelle (LEA) f\u00fcr Asylsuchende) apr\u00e8s qu’une expulsion \u00e9tait activement stopp\u00e9e<\/strong><\/p>\n Le 30 Avril 2018, des habitant(e)s du camp de r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s de Ellwangen (Landeserstaufnahmestelle (LEA) f\u00fcr Asylsuchende) \u00e0 Baden-W\u00fcrtemberg ont collectivement stopp\u00e9 l’expulsion de “Dublin” d’un jeune homme togolais en Italie. Ils encerclaient la voiture avec lequel les policiers voulaient emporter leur colocataire et r\u00e9ussissaient que la police devait le lib\u00e9rer des menottes et le laisser partir. Selon des rapports, entre 150 et 200 gens participaient dans cette action de r\u00e9sistance collective et spontan\u00e9e.<\/p>\n Tout d’abord, nous d\u00e9clarons notre profond respect et remerciement aux habitant(e)s du camp de r\u00e9figi\u00e9(e)s \u00e0 Ellwangen qui ont particip\u00e9 dans cette action. Ils\/Elles ont fait ce qui est logique et n\u00e9cessaire d’un point de vu humain: De venir au secours d’un \u00eatre humain qui devrait \u00eatre arrach\u00e9 par force de leur communaut\u00e9 pour \u00eatre expuls\u00e9. Avec leurs corps et leurs voix, ils\/elles ont donn\u00e9 un exemple de la solidarit\u00e9 et du courage civique contre un appareil d’\u00e9tat pr\u00e9potent, malgr\u00e9 que le propre vie en Allemagne est plus que pr\u00e9caire. Leur acte donne un exemple \u00e0 tous d’entre nous qui ne sont pas pr\u00eat(e)s \u00e0 vivre avec une culture d’expulsions o\u00f9 c’est normale que chaque jour, des gens sont arrach\u00e9(e)s de nos communaut\u00e9s.<\/p>\n Nos condamnons forc\u00e9ment l’op\u00e9ration polici\u00e8re massive avec laquelle l’acte solidaire des r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s \u00e9tait r\u00e9pondu. Avec le but d\u00e9clar\u00e9 de “briser la r\u00e9sistance”, des forces sp\u00e9ciales martiales de la police attaquaient le camp le matin du 3 Mai. Ils arr\u00eataient l’homme qui pouvait \u00eatre lib\u00e9r\u00e9 \u00e0 la veille et contr\u00f4laient 292 habitant(e)s du camp. Des gens \u00e9taient violemment r\u00e9veill\u00e9(e)s par la police et ligot\u00e9(e)s avec des colliers de serrage. 11 habitant(e)s \u00e9taient bless\u00e9(e)s, plusieur(e)s d’entre eux en sautant des fen\u00eatres \u00e0 cause de la peur. 10 gens, qui sont accus\u00e9(e)s d’\u00eatre des “fauteurs”, seront transf\u00e9r\u00e9(e)s dans des autres camps. Si le courage civique est tellement ch\u00e2ti\u00e9, si on cherche \u00e0 forcer les r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s de seulement subir calm\u00e9ment et de jamais r\u00e9sister contre l’injustice et l’arbitraire, ca ne montre pas une compr\u00e9hension d’\u00e9tat de droit, mais plut\u00f4t l’id\u00e9ologie d’un \u00e9tat autoritaire.<\/p>\n En plus, nous condamnons le racisme profond qui se manifest dans la couverture m\u00e9diatique et aussi dans les propos publiques de politicien(ne)s du AFD, du CDU\/CSU et aussi des Verts de Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg concernant les \u00e9v\u00e9nements \u00e0 Ellwangen, if the personnes r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s, surtout de pays africains, sont st\u00e9r\u00e9otypis\u00e9(e)s comme des “hordes” “dangereuses”, “violentes” ou “excit\u00e9es”. Un tel langage n’est pas seulement humiliant, mais aussi dangereux comme il pr\u00e9pare le terrain pour des nouveaux crimes de violence raciste.<\/p>\n Par contre, il serait indispensable de consid\u00e9rer s\u00e9rieusement les raisons \u00e0 cause desquelles un jeune homme se fuit du Togo. Dans ce pays, qui \u00e9tait jadis colonis\u00e9 par l’Allemagne, il y reigne un r\u00e9gime pr\u00e9sidentiel dictatorial depuis 51 ans. Ce reigne \u00e9tait transmis par Eyad\u00e9ma Gnassingb\u00e9 \u00e0 son fils Faure Gnassingb\u00e9, qui refuse strictement jusqu’\u00e0 nos jours de d\u00e9gager le pouvoir. Le r\u00e9gime togolais pouvait seulement s’accrocher au pouvoir pendant aussi longtemps \u00e0 travers la coop\u00e9ration politique et \u00e9conomique avec les anciennes puissances coloniales – l’Allemagne, par exemple, continue \u00e0 payer des soi-disantes “aides au d\u00e9veloppement” qui aident \u00e0 renforcer le r\u00e9gime togolais. Since August 2017, large parts of the Togolese population have been protesting in the streets for political democratization and the resignation of President Faure Gnassingb\u00e9. Le r\u00e9gime cherche \u00e0 opprimer les protestations massives avec la r\u00e9pression brutale. Cette situation actuelle tr\u00e8s s\u00e9rieuse n’est pas bien prise en compte ni dans les rapports du Minist\u00e8re d’Affaires \u00c9trang\u00e8res allemand ni dans les prises de d\u00e9cision de l’Office F\u00e9d\u00e9ral de Migration et R\u00e9fugi\u00e9s (BAMF) sur les applications d’asile par des r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s togolais(e)s. Si on parle d'”\u00e9tat de droit”, c’est dans cette domaine o\u00f9 des actes cons\u00e9quents seraient excig\u00e9s!<\/p>\n Une autre cons\u00e9quence qui serait \u00e0 tirer des \u00e9v\u00e9nements de Ellwangen serait de finalement valider l’\u00e9chec du r\u00e8glement de “Dublin” – un \u00e9chec surtout au sens des personnes r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s qui sont soumis(e)s \u00e0 ce r\u00e8glement. Si un demandeur d’asile togolais n’est pr\u00eat \u00e0 se laisser expulser de l’Allemagne en Italie, il y en a des raisons, comme beaucoup de r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s africain(e)s qui arrivent en Italie y vivent en pauvret\u00e9 et d\u00e9sesp\u00e9rence totale. Le syst\u00e8me de “Dublin” les emp\u00eache de s’installer en s\u00e9curit\u00e9 et dignit\u00e9 ailleurs en Europe ce qui fait que beaucoup de personnes r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s s sont chass\u00e9(e)s ohne droit d’un pays \u00e0 l’autre \u00e0 travers l’Europe pendant des ann\u00e9es. De changer cette situation correspondrait aussi \u00e0 la responsabilit\u00e9 collective de tous les pays de l’UE pour les rescap\u00e9(e)s des routes migratoires mortelles \u00e0 travers le Sahara et la M\u00e9diterrann\u00e9e. Because it is the EU member states that, by refusing secure travel and imposing restrictive controls on migration, have caused the deaths of millions of people in the Mediterranean and the Sahara. De faciliter aux rescap\u00e9(e)s d’arriver finalement sauf et sain et de bien traiter les exp\u00e9riences traumatisantes de leur fuite serait la moindre chose \u00e0 faire.<\/p>\n Nous exigeons des responsables \u00e0 Baden W\u00fcrtemberg :<\/p>\n Nous excigeons en plus:<\/p>\n Sign\u00e9 par: Statement on the events in the State Initial Reception Center (LEA) for asylum seekers in Ellwangen on the occasion of the prevention of a deportation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[256,244,255,186,214,197],"class_list":["post-5150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bearing","tag-causes-of-flight","tag-civil-disobedience","tag-migration-en","tag-racism","tag-solidarity"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"glokal","author_link":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/author\/carolin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Statement on the events in the State Initial Reception Center (LEA) for asylum seekers in Ellwangen on the occasion of the prevention of a deportation.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glokal.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nAfrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo<\/p>\n
\n
\n Civil Courage is Necessary, not Criminal – Solidarity with the Resistance of Refugees against Deportations!<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nfrom Germany to Italy, there are reasons for this. Because many African refugees who arrive in Italy live in conditions of absolute poverty and lack of perspective. Due to the Dublin system they are denied the possibility to settle down safely elsewhere in Europe, and many refugees are chased from one country to the next for many years without rights. To change this situation would after all be a requisite response – and in line with collective responsibility of all EU states – to the survivors of the deadly flight and migration routes through the Sahara and the Mediterranean. Because it is the EU states who let many thousands of people die in the Mediterranean and the Sahara through their denial of safe travel routes and the installation of rigid migration control. To provide safe arrival and the processing of traumatising flight experiences would be the least.<\/p>\n\n
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\nAfrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo
\n07 May 2018 | D\u00e9claration sur Ellwangen (francais)
\nLe courage civique est une n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 – pas un acte criminel! Solidarit\u00e9 avec la r\u00e9sistance des r\u00e9fugi\u00e9(e)s contre les expulsions!<\/p>\n\n
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\nAfrique-Europe-Interact, ATE (Association Togolaise des Expuls\u00e9s \/\/ Togolese Association of Deportees, Sokod\u00e9\/Togo), berlin postkolonial e.V., glokal e.V., Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD), No Stress Tour, Urgence Togo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"