Networking meeting in Berlinn - Abolish the Lager-System!
The term "racial profiling" refers to the use of profile characteristics as a determining factor in the course of a criminal prosecution by the police / regulatory agencies / law enforcement organs. The reports and experiences of affected people show that these profile characteristics are determined arbitrarily by the officers and are most often the result of racist mentality.
Thus at the root of all racially motivated police brutality also lies "racial profiling". In Berlin, this practice is amongst others supported by the ASOG-law § 21 II No. 1, which states that in certain places classified as "dangerous", the police can, with no obvious and explicit reason for suspicion, ask people to provide their personal details. Two exampels of areas classified as such are the Hasenheide or the Hermannplatz in Neukölln/Berlin. "Dangerous" places can also be locations in which the police assume the increased presence of "people violating residence law provisions." Hence "racial profiling" constitutes a two-fold risk for people without secure residence in Germany. Mr. Biplab Basu from ReachOut Berlin, counselor for victims of right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence, will present various forms and consequences of "racial profiling" and show how it is an indispensable part of the institutionalized racism in Germany. The presentation will take place on
Saturday, January 21st at 18.00 o’clock in Berlin Mehringhof, Gneisenaustraße 2a 10961 (U-bahn station Mehringdamm U6 / 7, Bus M19, 140, 248).
There is great food and drinks! Donations woul be greatly appreciated.
For more information please view: http://.plataforma-berlin.de, https://thevoiceforum.org/ or http://thecaravan.org/
Abolish the Lager-System!
The refugee camps are also an integral part of institutionalized racism in Germany and of the way people who – for whatever reason – migrated to Germany. They reflect the racist mentality that prevails amongst the majority of white Germans living here. Frequently asylum seekers are housed in so-called “asylum seeker accommodation centers” where they have to live under miserable conditions: the buildings are usually in poor conditions, the people have extremely cramped living quarters and are forced to share moldy rooms and bathrooms. In addition to this, they are faced with every-day exclusion humiliation and isolation, not only caused by the remote location of the "Heim”. Their presence in the buildings is partly controlled by cameras or signature lists, they receive "coupons" instead of money, their freedom of movement is restricted by the so-called "Residenzpflicht" and they are often excluded by most of the inhabitants of the nearby villages. Whereas, it would not only be more convenient but also cheaper for municipalities to locate the refugees in decentralized private apartments, where they could lead their own lives and meet new people.
In the whole Federal Republic of Germany, in Bramsche, Wittenberg, Horst, Jürgenstorf bei Demmin and many other places a huge wave of refugees has and still is emerging, demanding an end to these circumstances.
Plataforma Berlin, The Voice Refugee Forum and the Caravan for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants invite all refugees and migrants to participate in an open networking meeting taking place prior to the presentation "Racial Profiling in the context of institutionalized racism in Germany" on Saturday, the 21st January 2012, at 14:00 o’clock in Mehringhof. We would like to talk about our experiences and discuss and find ways to further organize the fight against the lager system and institutionalized racism in Germany.