Stop deportation

Speech at a demonstration in Ingelheim (Germany)

by Abraham Mehreteab

(06.06.2009) First of all I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me here to speak against deportation.

It is a clear fact that no body wants to leave his village, his place of origin and separate from his families, friends. But desperate living conditions push people to risk their life and spend their time as a second class in other countries. The reaction of the host States is mostly not positive and asylum seekers face deportation to their hostile countries. This is also true with the German authorities and politicians.

Yes although there is a great deal of poverty in all third world countries specially in Africa, from my own perspective, I would say that most Africans are fleeing their home land for reasons of the aggravated human right violation, unending and forceful military service, sexual abuses, civil wars and opposing the dictators in their countries. They become homeless people for political and economic reasons. They are forced to escape their country. This is very clear on the Eritrean situation.

All the rich and beneficiaries of the past colonial and the present global world system have been consistently blocking the movement of people despite the so called open and free market policies.

In our case we know that any foreigner residing in Germany without legal immigration status can be arrested and placed in detention pending deportation. Each day, many asylum seekers are returned to the conditions from which they fled—civil war, political persecution, religious persecution, dire economic hardship and regimes that suppress ethnic minorities and women. We strongly oppose such things for people who have no other opportunity except escape from dictators.

Moreover, the detention can drag on for up to several months. During this time, people threatened with deportation are almost completely cut off from the external world and might not get proper legal advice.

Therefore, I would like to call all Germany authorities who are working on this area to stop deportation as it is inhumane and violates the basic value of the German people.

Moreover, I call the flight agencies, which are used to deport refugees, to stop to cooperate with the authorities in deporting any asylum seeker.

Abraham Mehreteab: Speech at a demonstration in Ingelheim (Germany), June 6, 2009

Keywords:    ⇒ Conscientious Objection   ⇒ Desertion   ⇒ Eritrea   ⇒ Mistreatment   ⇒ Prosecution   ⇒ Refugees