Dear friends of THE VOICE Refugee Forum!
Because we unfortunately cannot come to your 20 year anniversary celebration to Jena from Wuppertal, Velbert, Dusseldorf, Remscheid for various personal and professional reasons, we want to wish you herewith exciting, reflective, inspiring, surprising, solidary, and last not least also happy hours and days.
THE VOICE 20 years .... what does this mean to us?
THE VOICE means to us:
Twenty years of encouragement and empowerment of refugees, which accompanies us in the slogan "We have no vote, but we have a voice!" since the birth of the Caravan for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants.
THE VOICE means twenty years of determination to stand up to the racism of the authorities and to engage in civil disobedience.
THE VOICE means: Twenty Years of courage of all brothers and sisters who are not willing to put their freedom under condition and to negotiate about where they are allowed to go and where not.
THE VOICE means twenty years of solidarity and confidence: When refugees unite and act together, it does not have to be perfectly prepared. Even tough the conditions are miserable - together we will make it!
THE VOICE, to us, is a twenty year old, unprecedented continuity and reliability.
Over the years, The Voice has given birth to many new and important initiatives, who have developed their own dynamics and importance.
THE VOICE to us is a tireless persistence and continuity that has managed, for example, with the Initiative in Remembrance of Oury Jalloh to transform death of Oury Jalloh in a beacon against police brutality, against all the slander and cover up. THE VOICE means that the demand for justice - for Oury Jalloh and for all the victims of racist police violence – persists.
20 years THE VOICE for us and for all other refugees is a proof that deportations can be stopped, Lagers can be closed, and that colonial aggression can be restrained concretely on the ground, be it in the isolation camps, in public offices or in the streets.
The existence of THE VOICE and the created spaces also mean that we can arrange protection for our communities and for the neighborhoods, and that we can shape the public. Therefore it will be just as important for the next ten, twenty, hundred years ... to continuously reflect on our work and to work together in a constructive way, in order to create even more spaces and opportunities, media, kitchens, schools ... for the communities and their self-determination.
We wish you a great Festival!
Ali Araz Camara Claudia Elena Eylem Hari Imran Inken Joachim Reza Rosette Sarah Salissou Shuwa Tom
- Karawane Wuppertal -