Tag Archive for 'horst'

Hunger strike in Horst (Germany) III

But people do fight back | 26th September 2010

More school-age children have been sent from Hamburg to Horst, despite an agreement to the contrary. A fascist attack occurred on a refugee who is forced to live in Horst. It is the second week of protests in Horst, where the refugees are still waiting for an opportunity to finally talk about their demands with the camp management.

On Wednesday, the camp management and the interior ministry invited politicians and selected journalists to visit the facilities in a desperate attempt to silence the 300 people who live there. No attempt has been made to talk to the refugees about their demands.

On Saturday, 25th September several people and solidarity groups from various cities visited the refugees to reassure them of their support. The attempt to visit them was stopped at the gate, due to a general ban on visits. Whenever we asked in the past why the IDs of everyone wanting to visit were checked, we were given the excuse that told that the camp was open, the people were free and the checkpoints were only for the protection of the refugees.

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Hunger strike in Horst (Germany) II

Rally outside the camp in Horst | 23rd September 2010

11 days ago, a young refugee decided to go on a hunger strike to protest against the inhumane conditions in the camp in Horst. Other refugees joined him, and together with supporters from the outside, the pressure on the camp management has been increased. So yesterday, the camp management invited government officials, political parties, the refugee council and selected journalists to visit the camp in order to counter the images the public have seen in recent days with their propaganda.

It soon became obvious that the journalists who were invited were those who had written negatively about the camp. A photographer and a reporter from the magazine “Spiegel”, as well as other major news agencies had to obey the ban on visits that had been in force since the hunger strike began and had to wait outside.

Solidarity groups had organized a rally outside the camp to make sure that the journalists would see and hear the messages of the refugees. Immediately the refugees joined them, children drew pictures on the ground and others put up banners. Their demands were read out in Farsi, Serbo-Croatian, English, French and Arabic. Hearing their demands through the PA system gave people strength and as soon as the music played, the children started to dance. It didn’t take long for the rest to join and all the people who had told us their stories in the last few days were able to dance away their worries for a moment. People were singing, the fence was covered with banners and all that was missing was the delegation.

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Hunger strike in Horst (Germany) I

Day 10 | 17th September 2010

Ten days after the start of the hunger strike in the refugee camp in Horst (a small town approximately 100 km east of Hamburg), the refugees gathered again in the canteen to emphasize their demands.

Although the hunger strike has left its mark on the refugees, they are still determined. The camp management is trying to break their resolve with repression, threats and isolation. While at the beginning of the hunger strike, the management started to cancel the work opportunities for the refugees and closed the common rooms, they now resort to taking down the details of those who speak to the press. They also openly threaten with deportation. Despite all this, a lot of people have been showing solidarity with their struggeling neighbors. Also ctivists from various cities are among the supporters.

During the past year, the refugees have managed to draw attention to their disastrous situation. More and more media are arriving at the camp to get a picture of the situation. On Saturday, Mehmed Yildis, a member of the Hamburg Parliament from the party “Die Linke”, visited the refugee camp together with journalists. However, they we were denied access, and so far no journalists or anyone else have been allowed in.

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This is the blog of the antiracist network Welcome to Europe. It was formerly known as lesvos09.antira.info.

 

The name Welcome to Europe expresses the discontent and anger we feel when looking at the fatal realities of the European external border: the long documented deaths and suffering have continued for years, and no end is in sight. We stand for a grassroots movement that embraces migration and wants to create a Europe of hospitality.

 

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