THE CULTURAL DAYSPEECH OF THE ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE STATE OF BRANDENBURG.

The Minister President,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Today is the beginning of the foreigners cultural week in the state of Brandenburg. We are very thankfull for this day. Thankful because it is an opportunity for us to express our minds. Thankful because in 365 days, the autorities could think of us just one week. We hold very firmly that the authorities at the back of their minds wish to portray to the world that all is find with the foreigners in the State of Brandenburg. They wish to use HONEY BAIT SPEECHES to portray to the world that the State of Brandenburg is TOLERANT to foreigners. Unfortunately the asylum seekers have been stripped off from their humanity. We have written many open letters to the authorities about our life in Brandenburg, unfortunately, they lack the GOOD FAITH with all the power they have to restore our human dignity. Due to this reason and the following two reasons, we are not going to be part of this cultural week celebration;

1. Our exclusion from the society. The law governing the asylum seekers has excluded us from society. We are always foreigners no matter how long we live in the society.
2. The continuous racial discrimination we undergo. We are vunerable to the attacks from the right hooligans. For instance,

In Guben, in the month of February 1999, Mr. Omar Ben from Algeria was bloodgeoned to death. In Rathenow, at Silvester evening, Mr. Mahmood Khalid was brutally attacked. He incured serious body injuries, lost two teeth and spent five days in the hospital. Some days later, Mr. Andy John was also brutally attacked. He also lost one tooth and incured body injuries, in April, Marcel Luc Iyabi in Neue Stadt (Dosse), again in Rathenow, Mr. Christopher Nsoh, Mr. Sefary Jalloh, Mr. Koku Afantodji and a British journalist, Mr. Jin, were attacked. The catalogue of xenophobic crimes is skyrocketing here in the State of Brandenburg. Though the year is still to end, we have already registered more cases of racial attacks than last year.

Respectful Ladies and Gentlemen, when the asylum law was drawn, voted and published, the Germans and other Europeans heralded the law as the GUARANTOR of human dignity. At this material period, almost all european countries were in cirsis of various kind: racial, religious, political, national etc, etc... This law paved the lee way to many Germans and other europeans to move to other countries and seek asylum. Some of the asylum seekers are today nationls of these refuge countries. But today, some Germens and specially in the state of Brandenburg are the very first to criticise this very GUARANTOR of human dignity. This has reached the magnitude that:

As foreigners, we always move in fears because our physical features are anough source of provocation. In the state of Brandenburg, it is alarming.

As foreigners, we are frightened because of the racist looks, some spit on us, splash liquid on our faces inpublic places, throw their lit cigarettes in our dresses.

The xenephobic dogma has been incorporated into the main stream of politics in this country specially in the State of Brandenburg. This has generated voilence against the minoriteis. We are appealing to the governement of the State of Brandenburg that she has the major responsibilities which can have dangerous and even fatal consequancies if minimised.

We express our thanks to the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, for paying attention to the immigration and asylum seeking vineyards in three aspects:

1. His governement succeeded in giving foreigners born in Germany an automatic right to citizenship for the first time. It is rather unfortunate that till date children born from asylum seeking parents do not benefit from this law. The children are forced to seek asylum. If the parents refuse to seek asylum for the child, the child will not have social benefits.
2. The creation of the RITA SÜSSMUT commission to look into the policy of immigration and asylum seeking. We hope the asylum seeking law will be looked into and improved upon particularly in the State of Brandenburg.
3. His recent courage to accept that the society is racist and his recent race to combat it.

It will be a pride if all the germans in general undertake to persue by all means at their disposal without hesitation to this policy of eliminating racism and to encourage the policy of intergrating all the people living in their society. The governement should see into it that all public authorities and public institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation by being honest and impartial to each and every one living in the society. We should not only narrow our minds to racism on the streets but we should also widen our minds to racism in the law and in the institutions. If these two other sectors are looked into critically, then the end of the tunnel is not far. We are appealing to the national and international organisations that "A state without a stipulated law against racism, is the main perpetrator of racism. Speeches against racism are acts of good faith but unfortunately has no legal bindings".

As minorities in the society, we are appealing to the fact that we are discriminated, we live on the margin, threated as second class citizens and many politicians and top governement officials use us as their baits to win votes from the people. We accept we do not have the votes but we have the voice. secondely, the law gouverning the asylum seekers has imprisoned us to an undetermined prison sentence and has also sttriped us nacked from our human dignity. For instance,

• Most of our asylum homes are located deep in the forest. It is worst here in the state of Brandenburg. In Brandenburg, most of these buildings are buildings used to train the DDR STASI FORCE. Very isolated from the people. Today, they have become the homes of asylum seekers with at least four people in a smal air thight room. The buildings are always in the worst conditions for human existence. If care is not taken, the children living in these homes should be affected by lead poison from poor housing conditions.
• We do not have the freedom of movement. This peculiar law remind us of the apartheid era in South Africa where the BLACKS needed permission known as the PASS LAW to go beyond their territorial jurisdictions. Today the asylum seekers live in this situation of permition to go beyond their territorial jurisdictions.
• As asylum seekers we do not have the right to education. It is clearly stamped in our identitiy cards that professional education is forbidened to an asylum seeker. We have always made to believe that education has no barriers but today it is different. What a civilised society?
• We are entitled to 80 DM per month as poket money. The rest of our legal tender is in vouchers. With these, we cannot buy where we want ,we cannot buy when we want and we cannot buy how we want. For instance, we are forced to buy to the tune of 90%, we do not have the freedom to buy out of our territorial jurisdictions and we cannt buy certain goods of our choice.
• We do not have the right to work. Our question is how can a human being live for about one to ten years as a carbage. Totally inactive. People are getting mad almost every day, developing nerves nerves problems and becoming lazy. We are considered as the consumers of the taxe paid by the tax payers. Let us respect the universal cosmic law that states "Man is born to be active."
• We suffer from brutal deportation. Our colleagues are locked up in deportation prisons everywhere in the country. After keeping us in this inhuman conditions, their final blow is to deport us. We are appealing to the governement to recognise asylum seekers and give them the right to live in this society. These poor living conditions have made us to believe that " Germany has the highest number of undeclared prisons. The asylum camps. If it is so in the whole of Europe, then Europe has the highest number of undeclared prisons. Where then are the Human Right Organisations?"

We wish to thank everyone who has contributed to make our voices to be heared.

Thank you.

Rathenow, 20.Oct. 2000.