An African activist is suing the Land of Berlin for racism in office. He filed a complaint under the Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act in December 2021.
A joint press release (PDF attached) from the African/Black Community (ABC), The VOICE Refugee Forum and CARAVAN for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants
We support Mr. Mbolo C. Yufanyi Movuh in his struggle against racist treatment at the Berlin State Office for Immigration (LEA).
26 April 2022
Press release as PDF for download (see attachment below)
Mr. Yufanyi Movuh is a long-standing member of our networks and solidarity communities. He himself has often been affected by police brutality, racist controls and attacks. He has particularly distinguished himself in the struggle against the Residenzpflicht. The racist law from colonial and Nazi times was reactivated in 1982 to prevent refugees from entering their organisation and "legally" robbed them of their fundamental right to freedom of movement. Mr. Yufanyi Movuh lives with his family in Berlin. He first applied for a permanent residence permit in the Federal Republic of Germany over 10 years ago. However, racist and bureaucratic obstacles have since prevented him from obtaining his right.
We can rightly claim that Mr. Yufanyi Movuh has done a great deal for peaceful human coexistence in this society. He has always stood up against racist treatment of his fellow human beings during his studies in forestry and in his subsequent time as a research assistant. We know him as a reliable and always committed friend, brother, companion and comrade. Persistently defending the rights of African, migrant and refugee communities against racist exclusion, humiliation, insult and disenfranchisement. Last but not least, as a member of THE VOICE Refugee Forum and KARAWANE for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants, he has worked since the beginning with the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh for the clarification of the circumstances of his death and for the truth. As an activist of the African/Black Community (ABC), he strives for the unity of the African/Black communities across the colonial borders and the ethnic, linguistic and religious lines of division dictated to us.
Mr. Yufanyi Movuh filed a complaint against the State of Berlin in December 2021 under the Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act. This was preceded by repeated appointments at the Berlin Foreigners Authority, which is now called the State Office for Immigration. The decision-making process has been delayed for years by flimsy reasons and demands for more and more documents. Mr. Yufanyi Movuh has never received a reasoned written rejection of his application for a permanent residence permit in these years. Due to the attitude and behaviour of the staff of the Berlin Foreigners' Registration Office, Mr. Yufanyi Movuh was forced to engage a lawyer. The last time Mr. Yufanyi Movuh felt insulted and treated in a racist manner was on 15 December 2020, when the staff of the Foreigners' Registration Office presumed to question him about issues that had nothing to do with the decision-making process on his application. When he pointed this out to her, citing the staff member's behaviour, which he found arrogant and belittling, as racist discrimination, she felt insulted. Another staff member, who like her colleague neither belongs to a minority nor is likely to have experienced racism in Germany because of her appearance, then announced to Mr. Yufanyi Movuh that she would file a criminal complaint for insult and began to lecture him about racism. To date, no decision has been made on the application. In December 2021, i.e. one year after the last unsatisfactory and insulting appearance, Mr. Yufanyi decided to file a complaint himself under the Berlin State Discrimination Act.
We will closely follow and observe the processing of the events and the handling of Mr. Yufanyi's application for a permanent residence permit and complaint. If necessary, we feel compelled, together with all interested people, to document the experiences and happenings at the State Office for Immigration and to check to what extent people's experiences correspond with the central anti-discrimination law „key project“ of the Berlin Senate.
We call on people affected by official racism, not only in Berlin, to get in touch with us so that we can formulate our concerns together and look for solutions collectively.
Contacts:
African/Black Community (ABC) | E-Mail: abcberlin19@gmail.com | Telefon: +49 152 159 286 58
CARAVAN for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants
E-Mail: wuppkarawane@yahoo.de | Telefon: Araz Ardehali: +49 178 853 07 01 | Naledi Lin: +49 176 532 296 61
THE VOICE Refugee Forum (Berlin) | the_voice_berlin@emdash.org | Mbolo Yufanyi Movuh: +49 170 878 81 24
KARAWANE für die Rechte der Flüchtlinge und MigrantInnen
Büro Wuppertal | Marienstraße 52 | 42105 Wuppertal
http://thecaravan.org | E-Mail: wuppkarawane@yahoo.de