The Lampedusa group in Hamburg needs support – NOW!

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At this moment of the Corona Pandemic, NO ONE should be left behind! - But the Lampedusa Group in Hamburg, The undocumented workers and the homeless once again remain neglected and isolated – without safe housing and shelter, without access to health care services.

For almost 7 years now, the Lampedusa tent has been not only a place of protest and selforganisation but also an important point for the assembly as well as for further information, referrals and contacts for new arrivals in Hamburg. It is a place for important political organisation for people without papers. Homeless people also regularly visited the tent.

In order for the Corona response to succeed in Hamburg, the members of Lampedusa in Hamburg, all other refugees and non-status workers in Hamburg must be protected and given immediate rights of residence and safe housing. Why is it that after 7years the right to stay still has not been granted politically.

This crisis does not affect us all equally. Refugee, undocumented and homeless communities are being excluded from response measures and so again the worst affected. This exclusion will be deadly for thousands of people and push back to the German society as a whole.

Since last week there have been measures by the Hamburg State to take down the tent completely. This is unacceptable and contradicts the agreement that the manifestation shall go on as before after the extraordinary measures. As the struggle goes on the tent must remain as a symbol of protest and resistance, because the government did not yet meet any of our legitimate demands.

We support actions taken by all levels of government that prioritize public health. However, we ask government to fight the Corona virus with an effective health plan for ALL and not again with the structural racism of segregation and exclusion. Everyone, regardless of status and origin, should have access to the necessary safe housing and medical care. Good examples can be taken from other European countries like Great Britain and France who have taken measures to provide safe housing for the homeless.

The Lampedusa Group members had been forced to flee the war in Libya, they already had their resident papers in Italy but no perspective to survive there. Due to unprecedented circumstances we came to Hamburg and established the Lampedusa social movement. We are a part of the history of Hamburg city with permanent tent protest. This tent and social history must remain.

We struggle while living on the streets of Hamburg. We are fighting now since seven years for a status and a life in dignity without any positive reaction from the side of the Senat. But we managed to mobilise a huge solidarity from civil society by raising public awareness and created an important information and social center in and outside of the tent.

The Corona pandemia should not make us forget Hanau or forget the suffering of those seeking protection at Europe's outer borders. The government should not forget those threatened by racist violence and humanitarian disaster. This is important, more than ever.

We call for the use of §23 or any other possibility to grant all members of the Lampedusa in Hamburg group a right of residence. We want to build an inclusive, just society of equality and of equal human rights for everybody. Black lives matter too! We want to ensure once and for all that the problems created by global warfare and oppression give way to sustainable solutions.

The Hamburg Goverment must take immediate measures to protect the group Lampedusa in Hamburg and other vulnerable groups during this difficult time

We call on all refugee and migrant self-organisations groups, anti-racist and anti-fashist, to support.

The tent can be attacked at anytime!

We are ready to abide by the regulations – however:

THE TENT MUST STAY - IT IS A SYMBOL OF OUR STRUGGLE AND THE

STRUGGLE OF NEGLECTED REFUGEES WITHIN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BORDERS

Our DEMANDS remain:

  1. IMMEDIATE Right to stay | Paragraph 23
  2. IMMEDIATE right to access health care
  3. IMMEDIATE access to SAFE housing | decentralized housing | hotels or empty properties for homeless  
  4. STOP mass accomodations
  5. STOP deportations
  6. RIGHT to work
  7. STOP Racial Profiling

We need to be to be taken seriously now and want to be addressed directly by the Hamburg government.

LAMPEDUSA IN HAMBURG Contacts:

Ali Ahmed , mobil +49176-68125237

Baba Suleiman, mobil +49151-71541981