On Aug 30^th, the national day of action against custody pending deportation, non-racist organizations call for a demonstration titled “Dead – but not forgotten! Against disappearance in the German system of deportation.” They want to remind the public of 4 persons who died in the German system of deportation on this Aug 30^th 1983, 1994, 1999 and 2000 and want to place emphasis on the immediate termination of custody pending deportation.

This is the call:

On Aug 30^th, the national day of action against custody pending deportation, non-racist organizations call for a demonstration titled “Dead – but not forgotten! Against disappearance in the German system of deportation.” They want to remind the public of 4 persons who died in the German system of deportation on this Aug 30^th 1983, 1994, 1999 and 2000 and want to place emphasis on the immediate termination of custody pending deportation.

This is the call:

On Aug 30^th 1983 – 1994 – 1999 – 2000 Kemal Altun, Kola Bankole, Rachid Sbaai and Altankhou Dagwasoundels died in the German system of deportation.

Kemal Altun jumped out of the window of the administration court in West-Berlin after being in custody pending deportation for 13 months. There should be a lawsuit of a federal commisioner against the approval of political asylum.

Kola Bankole suffocated on a gag pressed into his mouth by Federal Border Guards in a plane of the German Lufthansa as he should be deported.

Rachid Sbaai died of smoke poisoning in a bullpen of the deportation prison in Büren. The mattress was on fire. Although he rang the alarm it took 15 minutes until the officers showed up.

Altankhou Dagwasoundels died when he tried to skive off the sixth floor of the hospital in Köpenick. He was taken to hospital after he had been in custody pending deportation for 4 weeks. His room was guarded by two officers.

UNEXPLAINABLE

-         Illegal border-crossing and sojourning without valid papers are criminal offences which can lead to high sentences and which criminalize migrants.

-         Deportation is – like towing a car or approving a construction permission – an administrative act. Migrants can be imprisoned up to 18 months until the administrative act is achieved. Every day in prison is charged with € 65.

UNPREDICTABLE

-         Duration and end of arrest are not predictable for the inmates.

-         There is no interest of authorities in throwing light on the situation the inmates have to deal with.

-         Responsible authorities don’t have adequate language abilities. People speaking French already overburden the employees of deportation prisons, authorities responsible for foreigners and the centre of deportation in Motardstraße completely.

UNCONTROLLABLE

-         Being in custody pending deportation is not a criminal offence. Therefore, affected people have no right to consult a lawyer. Arbitrary acts of authorities can hardly be limited.

-         Experience shows that authorities use custody pending deportation to overcome resistance of the immigrants although this is denied publicly. Approx. 40 % of the inmates are released later . In many cases this could have been anticipated by authorities.

-         Indefinite imprisonment, forceful behaviour of authorities and incapacitation of the inmates neccessarily leads to pressure. Often you could hear reports about maltreatment, robbery and racist defamation committed by the employees of the institution.

-         There is no social and psychological care in custody pending deportation.

-         Medical attendance of the inmates is more than insufficient. The resident doctor is not independent, but an employee of the police authorities and therefore part of the German deportation system.

-         Even the supply of food is inadequate. It does not cover the daily needs and is of a bad quality.

Therefore we demand:

Stop custody pending deportation!

There is no other possibility than terminatig the system of custody pending deprtation immediately. To emphasize this claim and to preserve protests concerning migration as a result of the G8-summit in Heiligendamm, we decided to carry our protest into the city. On this national day of action against custody pending deportation we do not demonstrate in front of the secluded prison in Köpenick but in the inner city of Berlin.

We meet at the former administration court, where Kemal Altun jumped out of the window and walk via Kurfürstendamm to Breitscheidplatz in order to demonstrate against the system of deportation in Berlin and Germany. But we are only noticed by the public, if many participate in this demonstration. There is a potential for an effective demonstration.

Support this request and be a part of the

Demonstration on Aug 30^th

We meet at Hardenbergstr. 30 (near Bahnhof Zoo) at 17.30

The demo starts at 18.00

Following organisations call on the demonstration:

Initiative against custody pending deportation in Berlin

Council for Refugees in Berlin

Initiative against chip-cards

Anti-racist initiative in Berlin