******************************************************************** * This appeal was emailed to my partner, Dave Manneh from * * the The National Coaliton of AntiDeportation campaigns, but * *as he is away n holiday I thought i'd email it to The GambiaList * ******************************************************************** NCADC reproduce below an appeal from our fraternal organisation in Germany: International Human Rights Association - Bremen NCADC feel the issue is important as the UK's own Immigration-Apartheid laws (all ready in force through interim measures) come into full force on April 1st this year. At the end of the message there are fax numbers which people in the UK can send protest faxs. _____________________________________________________________ Demonstration against Apartheid in German Family Politics For the rights of children, for the rights of women, for human rights, against racism Bremen: Saturday, 19th February 2000 12.00pm Central Station Stop the Apartheid Family Laws in Germany Binational couples in Germany faces great difficulties if one partner comes from a non-Western country, and very much more so if she/he is black. They not only have to face the prejudices of relatives and acquaintances, which is bad enough, but the very existence of such couples is threatened by German authorities which work towards expelling the non-German partner so as to prevent the coming into being of a binational family. A wedding is obstructed and in many instances made impossible through bureaucratic rules. This is the case of a family living in Bremen with their child. Nadine and Franklin (a refugee from Nigeria), have been waiting since May 1999 for documents from the German Embassy in Nigeria, which are demanded by the authorities here as necessary paperwork to facilitate the marriage. In the meantime, Franklin has no legal status in Germany and the family lives in constant fear that the father of the one and half year old Celine is again arrested and deported to Nigeria. During Nadine's pregnancy Franklin sat three months in deportation prison and was deported shortly before the birth of his daughter. This officially ordered fate can repeat itself at any moment. The daughter is denied the right to grow up with her father. When Nadine wanted to know why the father of her child could not stay with her, Mr. Meier of the Bremen Foreigners' Office replied that it was his duty to keep foreigners away. Similarly, the wedding of Anke with Gabriel, a Nigerian asylum seeker living in Thüringen, is being delayed by the German Embassy since March 1999. They too have a daughter. As Anke has moved to Hamburg to complete her education, she is dependent on Gabriel to care for the child. As an asylum seeker, Gabriel does not have the right to leave his district (landkreis) without official permission. The foreigners' office denies him the right, to move to Hamburg to his fiancee. Daughter and mother therefore rarely have the chance, to see each other. In the meantime, the Foreigners' Office is eagerly working to smooth the way for Gabriel's deportation to Nigeria. Through a co-operation between the Foreigners' Offices and the German Embassies, asylum seekers who wish to get married can always be deported before the wedding can take place. On the 19 January, Gabriel was arrested in the house of his parents-in-law in Thuringen. When he asked the police officers, what would now happen to his daughter, they replied dryly: "she can always go to an orphanage." Through the intervention of the International Human Rights Association Bremen, and "The VOICE" Africa forum Gabriel was released from prison, and could again take the small Eesosa in his arms. However even marriage no longer protects a couple from being torn apart. Thus, Dorothe and the Gambian Alieu are wed to each other since last summer. Even during the wedding in Bremen, the registrar had pro-claimed, that their marriage stands under a particular binding protection. However up to now, their marriage certificate is not worth the paper it is written on. The Bremen Foreigners' Office has ordered Alieu's deportation. According to the Foreigners' Office, he should try to get a marriage visa in Gambia. Mr. Meier of the Bremen Foreigners' Office admits openly that he can decide differently, but that he wants to punish Alieu. From many preceding cases, in which the partner was repatriated, it is known, that the return to Germany can take several months, if not years. It normally the case that he/she was not allowed to come back to Germany. Only rarely does a couple who weds outside Europe, succeed in leading a common life in Germany. This is due to the many legal and political obstacles that prevent binational couples from setting up a common future. Due to the tremendous burden, Dorothe faces great difficulties in concentrating on her ongoing training (Referendariat) as a teacher, her professional future is thus at risk. Through a medical certificate testifying to her deterioration of health, it was possible to postpone briefly the deportation of her husband. The Foreigners' Office replied with a letter demanding that Dorothe submit proof of a therapy, which should prepare her psychologically for the pending deportation of her husband. Such racist family politics is in addition deeply hostile to women. The order for therapy speaks a clear language: Women who marry Africans are not normal and must undergo therapy. Racist stereotypes, for example that Africans only come to steal German women, determine official thinking. This thinking implies that German women are the property of German men, and must be protected by the State against marriage to foreigners - including the punishment of women, who do not accept this official supervision. It is also suggested to the offending women as a serious solution, that they migrate to the country of their partner. This suggestion plays into the hands of all racists, who would like to "cleanse" Germany not only of foreigners, but also of those German women who have relationships with foreigners. Not only are the women separated from their life partners and fathers of their children, also their material, psychological and social existence are also systematically destroyed. For example the women are made fully and completely responsible for the maintenance of their partners, who have no right to work or to social benefits. They have to bear enormous costs for lawyers and court cases. The tremendous psychological burden worsens their chances in the labour market. Nadine, who is just 21 years old, must carry the entire costs for Franklin's arrest and deportation, if Franklin is to ever receive legal status. Alone for the deportation, the couple was charged over 7.000 DM. Dorothe and Alieu are threatened, that if husband Alieu does not leave the country voluntarily, the married couple will have to face a much higher bill, because they then have to shoulder the costs of deportation prison and deportation. So they are pressurised to give up all resistance, and to submit to the arbitrary will of the Foreigners' Office. The aim is to achieve a deterring effect, to hinder other women from even contemplating starting a binational family. When Dorothe complained about the harassment, she got to hear from the Foreigners' Office that "she should have thought of all this before she got married". Beside the couples mentioned above, there are countless other binational couples with the same problem: in Germany they count as an undesirable couple, and must fight hard for their future. Numerous families were separated by force or could not withstand the pressure exercised on them. Many women must raise their children alone, and many children know their father no longer, because he was deported. As a result of these racist family politics, many people have even been harassed to the extreme step of taking their own lives. We can accept this condition no longer! We must join together against apartheid in German family law. We invite you to join the campaign against apartheid in German family politics! Come to the Demonstration against Apartheid in German Family Politics Bremen: Saturday, 19th February 12.00pm Central Station In Jena: Saturday, 25th March 1.00pm Johanistr. Uniturm For the rights of children, for the rights of women, for human rights, against racism International Human Rights Association - Bremen Wachmannstraße 81. 28 209 Bremen Tel.: 00 49 421 557 7093 Fax: 00 49 421 557 7094 [log in to unmask] http://www.humanrights.de/ Please send protest faxes to the following numbers, The Innersenator of Bremen Bernd Schulte fax 00 49 421 361 9009 (regarding the cases of Dorothe/Alieu and Nadine/Franklin) The Innersenator of Thuringen fax 00 49 361 3793105 (referring to the case of Anke and Gabriel) Please send copies of the faxes to the International Human Rights Association - Bremen Fax: 00 49 421 557 7094 Thank you all very much Michelle Parker Manneh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------