Don't detain people in "Arrival Centers" any longer than necessary!
PRO BLEIBERECHTsent a letter to the government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern claiming to stop to detain the people in the "Arrival Centers" in Horst and Sternbuchholz. A new law of the German government gives the permission to the local authorities to detain people there for up to 2 years. Until now most people in "Dublin-procedure" and people from so called "safe countries of origin" (Balkan, Ghana, Senegal) are forced to live there.
"What we here from the people coming from these camps shows us: People should get out of there as fast as possible!, said Rena Sakowski, member of PRO BLEIBERECHT. "Mass Detention can never be good. It keeps people apart from starting their own live in the new society. It causes stress and it is horrible for everyone, who has to go through this.!
PRO ASYL, the biggest NGO supporting Refugees in Germany, had published a template for a Open letter to the local governments some weeks ago. PRO BLEIBERECHT sent it to the responsible politicians in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to explain them the situation in the "Arrival Centers" and ask them to give up any ideas to detain people in these mass camps.
Mehr Informationen zur Unterbringung in Erstaufnahmelagern finden Sie hier und hier.
The claims to the government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to translate the whole letter. You will find the content in German language, when u follow this link.
You find a summary in english language below.
Dear Frau Schwesig,
dear Frau Drese,
good afternoon Herr Caffier,
and dear members of our local parliament,
we adress you today from urgent reasons: We are worried of our government to plan on detain people in "Arrival Centers" up to 2 years by the new law §47 Abs. 1b, called »Gesetzes zur besseren Durchsetzung der Ausreisepflicht«. The federal states now have the permission to decide to detain the people there for 2 years. This segregation and exclusion will be not of any good effect for anyone.
The main problems with detaining people there are:
- Prejudice and racism will be rising. As social science proofs: Prejudice and racism grows with exlcusion and lack of contact.
- "Bad chance to stay" is a category, which is not useful to determine peoples' lives. Whether an individual will get the permission to stay in Germany cannot be read from any statistics. It may not be used to determine one's chances.
- There is a lack of support and integration in the "Arrival Centers". New people in Germany need a warm welcome and some support taking their steps through the procedures of the municipality. Isolation in "Arrival Centers" takes this support.
- People with special need for protection have less chance to get this protection in "Arrival centers": Women, who travel alone, children, gays, lesbians, religious and political minorities are high targeted groups of violence, discrimination and attacks in these camps.
The detention in "Arrival Centers" i snot based on a humanitarian basic attitude. It will not solve the problems of the rising racism in Germany.
You need to support the cities to welcome the Refugees, not to exclude them. Show your respect for human rights and humanity. Think of a good future for all people, who come to Germany to live together in peace.
Kind regards,
PRO BLEIBERECHT in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern