OPlatz lebt! is here again to make the various struggles for refugee rights and climate justice visible! The current political discourse is heavily lead by fascist ideas, with authoritarian and right-wing forces are on the rise and the abolition of human rights is socially acceptable. The media and politics alike are increasingly dehumanising people of colour and migrants, while the climate crisis is unfolding and creating a future in which millions of people will be on the move due to their homes becoming unliveable. We want to stand against the ideas of a ‘fortress Europe’ that tries to sustain a perceived status quo of a white, middle-class EU – with the price being the lives of all those seeking for refuge from war, persecution and climate crisis.
The main demands accompanying the camp revolve around the living conditions of migrants and asylum seekers here in Germany. We demand a stop to deportations to guarantee refugees’ safety as well as an abolition of the Residence Obligation Law and the Bezahlkarte, which only serve to complicate asylum seekers’ lives. We demand a closure of all refugee camps and humane living conditions and the unconditional right to work and study for refugees to minimise dependency from the German state. Furthermore we demand a stop to the EU’s deadly border politics and recognition that war, persecution and climate change are forcing people to flee their homes and leave them in need for protection. Equal rights and an end to discrimination now!
In this political and economic climate, with inflation driving prices up to a point where the common citizen can barely survive, the European states keep sending money to border regimes, companies and mafias who make the process of asking for asylum a deadly game. Managing to enter the EU, refugees face a maze of inhumane living conditions, unfeasible bureaucracy and a racist system directed against them. A system that discriminates between different ‘kinds’ of refugees: White-passing Ukrainians, initially being treated very well, on the one side, stigmatised darker skinned asylum seekers from the so-called ‘middle-east’ and from all over the world on the other side. This othering divides the people further and keeps us busy fighting each other instead of the exploitative neoliberal capitalist system that destroys life in every form. We are here to bring climate justice to the political discourse to recognise the ways in which European hegemony and (neo)colonialist structures keep on destroying our planet and its various ecosystems.
The camp is in solidarity with all indigenous struggles and all refugees regardless of the reasons bringing them here.
This month of resistance is not just a protest, it’s a space for education, mobilisation and community building. We are here to make our voices heard, to reclaim our right to exist and to keep building the branches of the anti-colonialist, anti-border, anti-racist and anti-capitalist movement. Together, we are strong!
