Abolish Common Accomodations

Refugees are particularly at risk in these times of COVID-19. They live in communities where they can’t possible maintain the required social distancing measures.

The cases of Covid-19 infections in Camps is aggravated because of the unavoidable close contact with other refugees in using the general space.

Refugee Emancipation alongside other organizations (Flüchtlings Selbst Organisation FSO, FIBB, Forum des Empowerments und Teilhabe für Migranten, FEM and RE) organized a demonstration in Potsdam at the Potsdam City Council where they set fort a Memorandum to the Council.

Memorandum from Flüchtlings Selbst Organisation (FSO in Potsdam; Refugee

We the refugees in Potsdam collectively and individually have come to your noble house to petition, to complain about our living conditions. We know that, with the roll you play in organising this society in making everyone to contribute and participate in it, is important. Therefore, we plead that you look at our situation and take a positive solution today- Now.

Below we underline our problems;

1. The present corona pandemic has clearly exposed that, the collective system of accommodation is inhumane. It is a death tramp. We are forced to share the same toilets and kitchens, which makes contamination in the present context almost inevitable.

Living in such collective accommodation has reduced our self estime to almost nothing. Our rooms are not our private spaces. Actually, decisions on what we do in our rooms is made by the Heim Leitung, and this takes place for a very long time (5,6 years). We are not even allowed to have a DSL telefon and Internet contract. This makes us as children infront of the Heimleitung as they can go in and out of our rooms with or without notice or force us to change rooms with no notice.
Living in Heims does not teach us how to use scarce resources like hot water and strom. The Heim inculcates in you an extrem negligence that later affects you almost through out your existence in Germany. The earlier you are given a house like any other citizen, makes you realise how expensive such resources are.
What is sometimes shameful is that, even if we live in crowed rooms with 3 or 4 people and when you get a job, you pay 300 Euros for your space- we think it is a shame- it is actually extortion from the refugees.
For women and children, collective accodations has proven very difficult. The environment there is noisy, agreesive and people are stressed. Allowing school children in such environement destroys their school performance.
Colective accomodation, socially quarantines us from other inhabitants of this city. We are always seen as US and THEM. We perceive ourselves us people who are exempted, kept aside as if we are secondclass citizens.
One of the pyschological effects we get through collective accomodation is that, even our German partners and friends are not confortable to come to the camps, because these spaces are like no-go area. This makes our relationship with Germans difficult and reduces our integration. How can integration take place when we have difficulties in empowering and emancipating youreself.

With the above mentioned and much more points, from our perspective, it makes our integration process much more difficult than if we lived like any other person in the civil society.

Yes, we understand the present situation of housing in Potsdam, but with your goodwill and a good Wohnungspolitik, housing can be given to refugees in the shortess posible time.

Yes, we understand the present situation of housing in Potsdam, but with your goodwill and a good Wohnungspolitik, houses can be given to refugees in the shortess possible time.

http://www.refugees-emancipation.com info@refugeesemancipation.com http://www.refugeesemancipation.com