On the 28th of February, right after a big antiracist protest march, refugee activists, helped by German supporters, occupied the central square in front of the Frauenkirche in Dresden and set up a protest camp.
A lot of the refugees are actually from Dresden and part of the Remember Khaled-initiative.
Rights and Safety for Refugees
A little context here: Khaled was stabbed in mid-February after one of the Monday Pegida marches. 10 days later his flatmate was arrested and confessed the murder. Now Saxonian authorities and the relieved German public could point at the refugees who kill each other and it seemed clear to everyone that the incident didn’t have a racist background. Khaled’s flatemate, however, was interrogated without translater and, later, repudiated his confession. So it is still unclear who are the real murderers of Khaled.
During yesterday’s Pegida march around 150 militant neo-Nazis attacked the refugee protest camp. They were struck back by police.
Cops, however, are certainly not on our side. Comrades who support and guard the protest camp reported constant harassment: the camp is encircled by cops, whoever wants to enter is identified, people who leave the encirclement to go to the toilet are refused to enter again…
This morning the refugees were obliged to remove their tents. They are decided to continue their struggle, though, and declared that they would remain in the square until 25 March.
As for their demands:
- equal democratic rights not just the same duties
- no criminalisation of refugees
- all family members and relatives should be allowed to live together
- more rapid processing of accepting our applications for asylum
- accommodation in suitable quarters – apartments instead of camps
- better integration through German courses from the very start
- the right to work from the very start
- abolition of compulsory residence for all refugees
- equal treatment of all refugees
- No deportations during the winter! no deportation prisons! No deportation to countries with inhuman regimes.