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Im Sommer 2018 reiste Women in Exile für 2 Wochen nach Süddeutschland, um die Städte zu besuchen, in denen die neuen AnKER-Zentren eröffnet werden sollen, sowie all jene Frauen, mit denen WiE bereits in den letzten Jahren zusammengearbeitet hat. Es war eine weitere ermächtigende Erfahrung für Flüchtlingsfrauen.
Women* breaking borders Bus Tour has raised a lot of expectations, and the press has echoed it, here is a compilation of some of the press articles that have appeared during the Bus Tour.
From July 23rd to August 5th, Women in Exile and Friends, undertook a summer bus tour through southern Germany and Switzerland to network with other initiatives and groups who fight against racism and discriminatory asylum laws and regulations.
Our tour focused on:
Flight reasons, dangerous routes that refugees take on their way to Europe, criminalisation of refugees, deportations ending in deaths and the police brutality accompanying them.
“Anker” camps and Seehofer the interior minister, the master mind behind the “AnkER” policies which are based on racism and discrimination.
The trauma and the inhuman conditions refugees are living in these lagers.
Testimony
We talked with a young women who is now living in Bamberg “AnkER” , who narrated how to us, how after surviving the dangerous routes and her arrival in Germany she has been moved from one “AnkER” (before known as Arrival centres but had same conditions as “AnkERs”) to another. Here is a summary of her story:
“I came through the desert to Libya and was imprisoned for about three months. I got in a boat in Libya, I was lucky to survive but some of the people drowned. I woke in an Italian beach to find some corpses lying next to me.
In Germany I have been transferred from different camps twice and now I am living here with my child. As you can see he is sick, he does not eat or sleep, I take him to the doctor who comes in the camp once a week and he says he is alright. Look at him, he is so thin, is this a child who is well? I am so worried; I live in stress not only for my situation but also for my child. I am living in trauma, nobody want to know about me or my child, nobody cares.”
To proof this, we asked her if we can take a picture of her child and publish it on our blog. She permitted us to do so and publish it wherever we want, this way she thinks someone will see it and come to the rescue of her child.
From July 23rd to August 5th, refugee women* of the initiative Women in Exile & Friends travelled on a summer bustour through southern Germany and Switzerland to network with other initiatives and to fight against racism and discriminatory asylum regulations. Deportation Camps, „Anchor”-Centres and the criminalization of refugees were reasons to focus on the so called „home“ region of the German Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer. After finishing their bustour, Women in Exile & Friends will organize a press conference in form of a tribunal in joint cooperation with the NGOs Jugend Rettet and XXX. Together, the NGOs want to bring out what refugees experience on the move and after their arrival in Germany. One focus will be set by the NGOs which are explaining the experiences of refugee women* and by doing so denouncing the consequences of German politics and their racial standards. Another focus will be set on the criminalisation of the civil sea-rescues. The common goal of the tribunal is: Breaking the Borders.
We would like to warmly invite you: Press Tribunal with Women in Exile e.V., Jugend Rettet e.V on the occasion of the nationwide bus tour of Women in Exile & Friends
When: Monday, August 13th 2018, at 10am (to 11pm) Where: aquarium (Südblock), Skalitzer Straße 6 10999 Berlin
On the 03.8, some of us volunteered to cross the border and go to Switzerland to meet with the Climate Games group. This group composed of women who were risking to cross with no papers and others, who could cross the border legally.
This was to fulfil one of the orignal idea of the „Women Breaking Borders“ bus tour, to cross the border illegally and connect our movements because we see climate changes as one oft he flight reasons and migration.
We got at Paptal in Basel around 3pm, and found the organisers starting to build the camp but they stopped this to have a meeting with us. Both sides were apologetic because oft he miscommunication with the dates. This was very encouraging for us because they were very welcoming in spite of their busy schedule.
We had a promt meeting which later turned into a workshop. They promised us to pass the information and outcome of our discussion to the other participants in the camp and probably give it a slot in their big discussions.
On the 31.7 around 7pm, we arrived in Freiburg, the Infoladen group from the autonomous center KTS welcomed us with a meal and introduced us to their project and center.
The following morning 1.8, which is also the national day of Switzerland, we drove to Basel and met with activists from the Swiss side of the border. We gathered at the green corner near Impulsiv Freizenter Weil am Rhein at Basler street. Here we hang our banners played some music and after an hour started the 500 metre walk towards the border; with the Demo-Samba-Group „Rhytms of Resistance“ playing and singing slogans, together with the bank we sang and shouted slogans. When we got to the border crossing a few refugees from the Swiss part of the border were standing there in solidarity with our action.
On arrival in München at around 2pm, FLIT Solidarity Africa introduced us to the two day program and then we moved to Bellevue after eating. In Bellevue the FLIT Africa presented their work through dancing and talk, which ended up into an open discussion. Afterwards, we had dinner and went to the sleeping places organized by Alarm phone.
The following day most of us left for Erding for a press conference in front of the city court. At the end oft he press conference we made a short „stop deportation“ demonstration round the deportation prison and the city court, which are situated in the same compound.
We got a warm reception at the LiZe in Regensburg and after eating and relaxing, we started what was defined by the Regensburg group as a „lager walk“ around 4pm. In the city of Regensburg are many lagers, but five of them are situated closely to one another. Two of those camps are “arrival“ and “transit“ centres which will change to „AnKER“ centres on 1st August 2018.
We started the walk from the BAMF office and walked shouting to the nearest lager, which is called the arrival lager in the former military complex of Bajuwarenkaserne. We made a small rally outside and some refugees from inside joined us and took the loud speaker as well to let out their stress and anger to the system which is holding them as prisoners though their only crime is seeking for asylum in Germany.
We arrived in Nürnberg on the 25.7. late in the evening and after eating and being allocated to the sleeping places, we decided to have an early night.
Bamberg:
The next day we left about 10:30 am for Bamberg and visited what one of the residents described to us, as the abandoned village. This description had different meanings, one of them is the state of isolation of this huge camp and the other one is what is going on inside, and the feelings of those living inside. These mixed feelings of fear, depression, stress and that nobody cares about are a pyschological wall towards the refugees in this huge AOE Lager. This we felt at the entrance where the security guards told us to stand together on one spot as they sorted out our identities.
We talked and invited many women to the empowerment workshop which we were giving outside the camp in a solidarity cafe in the city. About 20 women from the camp attended the workshop and talked about different topics. One could tell from the discussions that they lacked information and were lost and desparate in their abandoned village as they called it. After the workshop, we invited them to Nürnberg for the rally we were holding in front of the BAMF the following day.
Our official program started at 10:30am though it was meant to start at 10am, because we decided to wait for the women who were coming from Halle and Magdeburg to join the program.
We started with two pararel workshop, one exclusive for refugee women only and the other one for friends and supporters. The one for refugee women was an empowerment workshop „from personal problem to political activism“.
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