…celebrate together and fight together! Stop the new asylum law!
Saturday, Oct 3, Café Stil-Bruch, 7 p.m. All refugees are welcome!

(Deutsche Version)

We invite all refugees and all people who already live here since a longer time to our second welcome2wuppertal evening at Café Stil-Bruch at Ölberg on Saturday. As every first Saturday’s night of each month we want to to cook and eat together, make music and listen to it and of course we want to talk. This time we have a special reason to really invite you all: Our goal is to get to know better, not only to be able to celebrate but also to fight together. The proposed tightening of the asylum law means a quick end of a «short summer of welcome» and for many refugees who already live with us and for those who just have been welcomed at the stations, the new law will have fateful consequences.

Facing the new law, solidarity must get a different quality now. This Saturday we want to create conditions for this by informing about the law and by talking about our options to deal with its consequences.

Before the new asylum law will enter into force, Germany wishes to celebrate itself at the „Day of German Unity“ on October 3 – just with the at most cynical slogan «overcoming borders». As cynical as this slogan is – it offers a chance to celebrate the right ones instead of politicians of foreclosure: This 3rd of October we should celebrate those who actually overcame borders – in real, during their flight or mentally on their way to the stations, the accommodations and on the streets. This we will do with a series of events by and for refugees.

Our w2wtal evening at Café Stil-Bruch is one of three self-organized appointments in Wuppertal on Saturday, which should be a further step to overcome borders together: This time such ones which still prevent joint actions.

From 2 p.m.: «Wuppertal is for everyone!» – Some people from Wuppertal organize a family afternoon with music, food and children’s games in and around Café ADA (Wiesenstraße 6, Wuppertal-Elberfeld)

From 7 p.m.: «Refugees Welcome Area Ölberg» – Monthly evening of w2wtal at Café Stil-Bruch (Marienstraße 58, Wuppertal-Elberfeld): cooking, eating, talking and making music with refugees.

From 11 p.m.: «Kingston Club – Refugees Welcome Special» at «Klub» at the Gathe. All DJs and employees waive this evening on money, entrance is free. (Gathe 50, Wuppertal-Elberfeld).

Dear friends, the plans for a new asylum law the conservative parties are pushing forward is something that should be known (also) by refugees that live here in Germany. Therefore, we made a summary in English. Below you can find an arabic translation as a pdf-file.

* This is a short summary on the most important aspects of the draft of the new german asylum reform. The draft was published on 17th of September. The summary is taken from a statement of the German NGO PRO ASYL (in German): Abschottung, Abschreckung und Obdachlosigkeit werden zum Programm (Policy of deterrence, isolation and homelessness)

The draft envisages deep cuts regarding residence, asylum and social rights. If it becomes effective  it will mean in example:

1. All the refugees that are affected by the Dublin-III-regulation, i.e. another memberstate is in chargefor their asylum process, will not recieve any social welfare according to the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (asylum seekers´ welfare law). They will receive nothing more than a return ticket to the state in charge and supplies for the journey. They will get no more medical treatment, no accomodation, cash money etc…* (*this point seems to become a little ‚bit less harsh according to the latest news…)
2. The german government is inventing a new residence status, the „certificate on the executable obligation to leave“. If a refugee is considered to prevent his or her deportation actively, he or she looses work permit, vocational training position and even social welfare. This new regulation would affect refugees who now have a so called „Duldung“ (exceptional leave to remain). Practically, this would impede all benefits of the „Bleiberechtsregelung“ (regulation for residence) that recently entered into force. The same thing will happen if authorities (Ausländerbehörde) believe that the refugee has come to Germany because of its social system, if the asylum application has been rejected „offensichtlich unbegründet“ (obviously without cause), or if someone is a citizen of a „save country of origen“.
3. In contrast to its supposed intention to accelerate the asylum proceedure, the draft legalises the bad practise of the Bundesamt (Federal Office) to give asylum seekers the so called „BÜMA“ (certificate about the registration as asylum seekers). As a result, people will have to wait even longer with the BÜMA until they can finally apply for asylum.
4. The draft also envisages that the border police itselve could check which member country is in charge of the asylum procedure. This targets towards quick imprisonment and Dublin-deportations without any legal remedies.
5. Asylum seekers should be obliged to stay in a reception center für six months (now it is three months maximum). During this time period, refugees receive only coupons or food packages instead of cash money. People from so called saved countries can be concentrated in this camps until they are deported.
6. They want to re-introduce the Residenzpflicht (obligation not to leave the district) which had just been nearly abolished.
7. They want to expand the posibility to arrest asylum seekers directly at the airport when they enter Germany by plane .
8. They want to add Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to the list of so called save countries.
9. The authorities (Ausländerbehörde) may not announce a deportation anymore, even if a person lives here with a Duldung, this means without a legal residence permit for years.
10. Even if a person receives the refugee status and a residence permit, a formal obligation to asume all the costs remains effective.That means that if any obligation has been signed by a family member or an institution, this person or institution will have to pay for ever and ever (up to now, the obligation ends with the recognition as refugee.)

We want to organize against these plans. Some friends want to prepare a common statement and we want to discuss this on Thursday after the Deutschkurs in Cafe Ada (around 4:30 p.m.). You’re very welcome to take part in making a statement we want to publish before October 3rd.

• Translated summary in Arabic