About the Rathenow issue.

Just as reminder; we are asylum seekers from various backgrounds. Which means, some of us come from countries ravaged by wars (ethnic, political, religious and so on……). Others were forced to flee because of the political instability dominating their countries. This situation does not come out of the blue, it’s due to the massive murder, toture and kidnapping practiced by our dictators in power. And once someone has already been subjected to such a ruling, you develop antennaes sensible to detect such structures in any case, no matter where you find yourself or in which state (of health). And the situation in Rathenow was not too far in this case.

That is why we, beforehand, seek dialogue with the people-in-charge of our asylum home. Unfortunately, our intensions to solve the crisis in democratic atmosphere were rejected by these authorities. Two times (see our 2nd letter to AWO and the Heimleitung).

So, the only way out for us was to force these authorities to react. And since in Germany, freedom of speech is more or less tolerated, we decide to address the problems we have in the form of an open letter (see 1# open letter).

From experience in Rathenow and generally in Brandenburg, authorities never take us serious whenever we try to address our problems to them (see 1# memorandum of 2nd Feb. 2000). But in reaction to our letter, Ralph Schroeder (Geschäftsführer of AWO Kreisverband) decided to engage into media fight. Deep in his mind, he tought by making use of big words and prophering menaces, he is going to make us sit tight, trembling and shut our mouth. I personally hear comments from friends (Germans) in Rathenow like: “you guys are really in trouble now. AWO here is like evangile. They are the county (Kreis) and the county is them.” And a lot more awful comments. But there is no such thing like “TRUTH”. So, he risks, by so doing, to endanger the whole institution he represents. Blinded by racism. Giving a long awaited opportunity to all latent racists in Rathenow to gladly contribute to his act. Don’t be shocked by my use of the word “racism”. It’s common knowledge that, racism by it’s nature, can be illusive to the mind as bad intentions are to the naked eyes.

Ralph in his first press release menaced to take legale mesures to ensure that our initiative was stopped. But for intelligent people, he rather shows his unwillingness for any reasonable resolution.
The use of radical methods on minorities to disperse any sign of resistance or revandication is known to everyone. At least to those of us coming from countries under dictatorship.
And the miscarriage of moral duty that politicians in this country impose on refugees to distract people of good faith in Germany by denying any hint of good sense in us (refugees) aided to contribute to Ralph’s racist statements (see articles about the issu in the MAZ West Havelländer).
For him, we are no less than a bunch of adventurers deprived of any intelligence, outcasts of the society without any sense of living. Still today, he refuses to open his eyes and see things how they are.

In response to our protest letter, the state prosecution in Potsdam mandated 3 criminal officers to track down facts about the issue. But unfortunately they chose to practice the “Selective Justice method.” They had interviews with people in the house, selected by the people-in-charge of the house. People who spoke to Ralph in the earlier days of our protest. As a matter of fact, all those who were being “summoned” by the Heimleitung, or the criminal police, were people who hardly speak German; and worst, they had no choice to have a witness during the interview - which means for them, that they are not going to have a fair interview. And also, curiously, all the other people were being “taken” from their rooms, without any invitation, but a colleague in house and me had the privilege to official invitations.
We all condemn this strategy of the police and AWO. We think this is a segreagtive strategy aiming to divide us. Thanks to colonialism, this “Divide and Rule” strategy does'nt work anymore.

At the end of all these plots, they concluded that we (Mohamad M. and me) are the organisators. We have have organised to destroy the images of: the State of Brandenburg, the County of Havelland, the city of Rathenow and at last, the renommé of two firms, AWO and ZARNIKOW.

Today, we stay short to face a process.

In a letter to the redaction of MAZ (23./24 Dec. 02), Rudolf Zarnikow, father of René Zarnikow the owner of the security firm “ZARNIKOW” writes: “…..Mit ihr handlungsweise tragen Sie (he means the new Social wellfare Minister of BRB) möglicherweise zur vernichtung von drei, oder noch mehr Arbeitsplätzen bei……” or “……..in übrigen gehören weder ich noch meine Angehörigen zu jenen Leute, die grundsätzlich etwas gegen Asylbewerber haben, solange diese nicht vergessen, dass sie Gast in Deutschland sind.......)

About my sad experience with our Telephon down stairs (see Focus magazine Nr.52 of 21st Dec. 02), the Heimleitung decide to cut us the line. No telephon, No trouble with Nazi nocturne visits. Good logic.

One critic in our letter is about the visitors book AWO keeps in our house. In a letter, Ralph writes to Opferperspektiv, he stated:”……….Zu der von Ihnen kritisierten Parxis der Besucherregelung kann ich Ihnen versichern, dass Sie mit dem Landkreis zu jedem Zeitpunkt abgestimmt wurde und inzwischen verändert wurde....“ But to my surprise, the new guard attacked a friend of mine on visit in the house on the 9th this month, longing for her ID. He made me to understand that there’s no change in the whole situation, only the personnel of guard has been changed. As we refused to abide to his recommendations, he called the police.

We have less and less private life. The criminal police is hunting us everywhere, tracking our private telephone numbers down, taking pictures of us wherever we are. Part of these are in the dossier they gather as material from their research to comdemn us.

The Heimleitung is still contributing in spying on our private life, calling our various friends. Some they call with the excuse that they need counselling, and some they just tell them never to set foot in the house again with the sole reason that those friends live in Rathenow where they have an address. If they wish to see us, they should invite us in their houses.

Does AWO and the authorities in Rathenow and BRB tell us in different ways that we made the mistake of our life? Are we still living in the DDR? Where in those days, state structures have turned everybody into information tools; father spies on mother, mother on father, children on parents and vice-versa……This system of the former government has contributed into depriving (stripping) the people of their private liberties and aided to create a mechanic society.

No matter how big is the head, it can never be bigger as the rest of the body.

AWO have sweared to take us to court. To punish us, and at the same time set example to other asylum seekers in the house never again to open their mouths to utter something. And it will be a blessing in disguise for us if they do it.