Refugees at glance
Asylum seekers in Bonn
A life between ‘‘monotony’’ and uncertainty By Amon Remy Mallet
Photo: Amon Mallet
Photo credit : Amon Remy Mallet
It is a sunny Saturday in this refugee hostel of Bonn-Duisdorf. In the yard, three people are discussing under the shade of a tree. Ali, 36 years old, is conversing with his friend who sits on the same bench. His wife takes a pew on a chair, holding her one year old baby in her arms. Ali, whose hand is marked with a tattoo, smokes a cigarette, while two of his three little children play in the middle of the court-yard. Since his arrival in 2011, the Bosnian man keeps having the same dream. ‘’I want a residence permit to stay finally in Germany’’, he says. He’s been living for four years with a ‘’Duldung’’, a temporary right to stay delivered This shelter of Bonn-Duisdorf hosts around 100 refugees by the Federal Office for Migration his German classes. and Refugees (BAMF). He also gets mates are still sleeping in the bunk As opposed to Abdoulaye who took a monthly allowance of 870 euros beds near his one. ‘’They are from the plane to land into Europe, his from the BAMF, which he complains Eritrea, we don’t speak the same lanroommate Gabriel had to undergo about. guage and we don’t share the same the desert of and the ocean before ‘’I have to pay the school fees of my culture’’ says Abdoulaye. The room is arriving to Europe. Gabriel, 31 yearschildren and also buy the clothes about 65 m². Entering the room, at old was a soldier in the Eritrean army, and the food. It is not much money the right side is a small bathroom. A based at the Sudanese fromtier compared to our needs’’ he says, table placed in the middle divides it while his wife is nodding. into two little corridor which gets to their beds. A TV set is placed straight Various reasons to get to ahead against the wall. ‘’Sometimes Germany I cannot sleep because my roommates are watching very late in the Ali’s story began 20 years ago in the night’’, says Abdoulaye, who feels war that opposed the Serbians to unhappy about it but also of his curthe people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. rent life. ‘’I have not been granted After the assassination of all mema lawyer since my arrival in August bers of his family during the war, he 2014. When I go to the migration Abdoulaye shares his room with two decided to hit back. He went on to office they tell me that they don’t other refugees kill seven of the murder’s relatives. know where my documents are’’, Since then, he feared for his life as he he complains. His worst experience In 2013, he was accused of helping received death threats. He then left happened last month when he lost some people to cross the border to to Bulgaria. From there he moved to half of his money and was not reget to Sudan. He was then sent to Greece and then Italy till his arrival imbursed. He describes his current jail where he was tortured. ‘’I spent to Germany. The shelter of Duisdorf life as a ‘’monotony’’. He left Guinea5 months in prison. I was beaten is his fourth one. ‘’It is very hard withConakry in 2013 after the death of every day with a motorcycle chain out any job, my life is just a routine’’, his father. His uncle wanted to seize because they (prison guards) wantsays Ali, who was a musician. his dad’s property to the detriment ed me to concede something that I ‘’Around hundreds people live in this of him and his mother. He opposed did not do’’, he reveals, showing scars shelter’’ says the guard, dressed in a to that and was beaten by his unof his injuries all over his arms. The blue security uniform. For a total of cle’s children. He shows the scars on father of three children escaped the 26 rooms, the asylum seekers share his faces as a consequence of that. prison and walked for 5 days until he the room at three. After knocking at To save his life, he had to leave his got to Sudan. There, he was sold by the door of one chamber of the first country. He came first to France with the soldiers to the Rashaida, a tribe floor, it takes a while before Abdoua tourist visa, which he was able to that populates Eritrea and northeast laye Touré opens. It is around 13 pm have due to his mother’s acquaintSudan. A report published in Janubut the 22 year old Guinean man has ance in Belgium. There, he was left ary 2013 by Amnesty International a sleepyhead. First reluctant to tell on his own and decided to come to acknowledges various kidnappings his story, he finally accepted to talk Germany. The only moment of joy in 2011-2013 in eastern Sudan, carinside his room. Two of his roomthat Abdoulaye has is when he takes
3 questions to Katrin Dauenhauer , volunteer for Amnesty International Photo credit : Katrin Dauenhauer
‘‘We provide consultation for refugees’’
What is your activity all about? Well, as part of Amnesty International’s work on refugee issues, our group provides guidance and information to refugees during the asylum process. This means that refugees can come to our office with their documents and inquire about how best to proceed. We take a look at their papers and do our best to explain the necessary steps to them and advise them on their asylum application.
If they have a lawyer, we talk to their lawyer and ask whether we can support him or her with research on the human rights situation in the refugee’s home country for example. Or we help refugees file a claim or accompany them to government agencies. And what difficulties do you face helping refugees? What we experience during consultations is that refugees come to our office too late, that means after
the time limit for an appeal has already passed and they are under immediate threat of being deported. In these cases it is very difficult and sometimes also impossible for us to do anything. Time is against us, if you will. Another difficulty is communication. Of course, not all refugees speak English or German so we have to rely on lay translators – e.g. friends or family of the refugee who have been in Germany for a longer period of time – in our consultations. These translations can be inadequate at times, especially given that precise legal terminology is important. This way, it might take longer to get to the bottom of things. Finally, asylum law is a complex matter in and of itself. We are providing consultations as volunteers, not as full time legal practitioners. So if refugees have very particular questions about their residency status
ried out by members of the Rashaida tribe.
Through the Mediterranean sea But Gabriel escaped from the Rashaida after 8 months of captivity and walked through the desert in direction to Libya. There he worked for months in order to finance his trip to Europe. In 2014, he paid around 1700 dollars to smugglers to get to Italy trough the Mediterranean Sea. Though the previous year, more than 360 refugees died when their fishing boat capsized off the shore of Lampedusa. ‘’I wanted to save my live’’, he says notwithstanding the risks. At this part of his story, Gabriel stops as he recalls one of his ‘’worst experience’’ in his life. ‘’We were more than 500 people in the boat and many children. We embarked in the night and in the morning the boatmen left us alone and disappeared in the middle of the ocean. I was suffocating as I was at the bottom of the ship. When the water got inside we were all trying to get it out with some buckets’’, he relates. The boat was going under as the migrants to get the water off. They were luckily saved by the Italian guardian coast. Some of them went to Rome, others to Milan. Gabriel was sent to Milan. From there he left to France. He arrived in Germany in August 2014. ‘’Here is a big country. This is why I chose to come’’, he says. If Abdoualye, Ali and Gabriel lives were in danger, other refugees left their country for a better economic life.
‘‘Life is bad in Kosovo’’ It is the case of Rose, a 17 years-old lady from Kosovo. Rose has been living in this temporary shelter of Bad Godersberg for 2 months with her brother and her mother. This sunny afternoon, some kids are playing in the sand. Others are playing tennis table. Groups of people are discussing scattered in the yard. Some sits with strays’ looks. Some children bike while others are on rollers. Rose discusses with a security guard in
front of the main building with her mother. ‘’I am here because it’s really bad in Kosovo’’, she says. ‘’I don’t have money to send my children to school’’, her mother adds. Berap, 29 years-old is another Kosovo citizen. He came to Germany with his wife and his children. They have also spent two months in this temporary shelter. ‘’ In my country, the politicians are all corrupted. The only people who have money are those who work for the government’’ he says. His wife also points out the ‘’bad life’’. As a signatory of the Geneva Convention on Refugees in 1951, Germany has an obligation to receive asylum seekers. Furthermore, ‘’Article 16a of the Basic Law grants Article 16a of the Basic Law grants victims of political persecution an individual right of asylum’’, states the Federal Ministry of Interior.
‘’ Everything is black ahead of me ’’ And those who don’t fill the criteria can face deportation or can be required to leave the country. Bappu Ray, originated from the Indian Kashemir says he will never return to his country. Sitting on his balcon in one shelter of the locality of Bad Godersberg, Bappu speaks with desperation in his voice. The 22-years old man seeks asylum in Germany since 2011. His compound at home was bombed by ‘’terrorists’’. After five years under a temporary residence permit Bappu believes he has no future. ‘’ Everything is black ahead of me ’’, he says. He considers his current situation like a prison. ‘’I have no freedom. I am not allowed to go anywhere apart from Cologne and Bonn. I have no freedom’’ he says. As opposed to him Tanvir, a 25 year-old Bengali has a hope. ‘’My wish is to see political stability in my country’’ he says. He left Bangladesh because he was involved in political activities and was afraid to be ’’kidnapped’’ as many of his friends were before. After 8 months in Germany, he would like to contribute to the development of his host country if he’s granted a residence permit.
Migration and asylum issues the support of a lawyer is rec-More than three quarters of immigrants in Germany come from other Euommended. And are they alternatives for ropean states. refugees with no hope to stay -Political persecutees are afforded asylum in Germany in accordance with Arin Germany? ticle 16a of the Basic Law (GG) of the Federal Republic of Germany. Again, there are several options depending on the per- -From 1990 to the end of 2013 Germany received a total of 2.584 million reson’s individual situation. If quests for asylum there is basically no chance for a refugee to stay in Ger- -In 2013 a total of 109,580 people lodged an initial request for asylum, which many and he or she is fac- marked an increase of almost 70 per cent over the 2012 figure of 64,539 aping deportation, the refugee plications. should consider leaving the country voluntarily. In some -The same year about 39 per cent of all asylum seekers came from Europe cases, travel costs to return (2012: 34.9 per cent) as compared to almost 39 per cent from Asia (2012: 51.1 to the home country are fi- per cent). nanced by the International Organization for Migration. -The percentage of asylum seekers from Africa in 2013 rose (20.5 per cent as There is the so-called Reinte- compared to 12.9 per cent in 2012). gration and Emigration Programme for Asylum-Seekers -924 of about 1300 refugees in Bonn have housing provided by the city of in Germany (REAG) and the Bonn Government Assisted Repatriation Programme (GARP) that -Between 600 to 1800 are still expected to arrive in Bonn are worth taking a look at. Of course, this presumes that the Sources : The Federal Government of Germany, The Federal Ministry of Interefugee does not have to fear rior , The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Amnesty International prosecution or imprisonment if he or she returns home.