In Iran, we are witnessing the beginning of a revolution. A feminist revolution. Led by women* who are fighting for their freedom and a new society. For their courage, they are killed, tortured, and imprisoned.
The courage of these women* impresses us. It has led to expressions of solidarity worldwide. The same expressions of solidarity still resonate for the women* who have been demonstrating for their rights in Afghanistan for over a year. The same expressions of solidarity are now fading for the courageous women* in Belarus.
But what happens when these very courageous people need international protection? Do they receive access to the protection promised to them by the European and German legal systems?
“No,” says lawyer Berenice Böhlo from the board of the RAV, “on the contrary: people in need of protection have almost no legal means of even coming to Germany or Europe, not even if they are demonstrably politically persecuted or their lives are in serious danger. For example, our Afghan clients, who were promised asylum in Germany, have been waiting for months and years in Pakistan or Iran for their visas to be processed or issued so that they can be granted asylum in Germany. Otherwise, their only option is a life-threatening escape via completely unsafe routes.”
Nevertheless, on October 8, 2022, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that these last escape routes, which she termed "unauthorized entries via the Mediterranean and the Balkan route," must be stopped through strict controls. This is beyond cynical, as the European asylum system does not even provide for "authorized entry" as a means of granting protection. Humanitarian visas are only issued in rare, exceptional cases. The German Foreign Office doesn't even set a processing time for issuing visas. What a fine example of feminist foreign policy.
Solidarity with courageous women* in Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere ends at Europe's external borders. It ends in the bureaucracy of German visa offices.
“A human right without access to justice is an empty promise. We demand genuine solidarity beyond mere words of solidarity,” says lawyer Franziska Nedelmann, Vice Chair of the RAV.
We demand that federal and state governments end the policies pursued for decades by male interior and foreign ministers and adopt the following immediate measures:
► Immediate and effective reception programs at state and federal level for asylum seekers from Iran;
► the immediate increase of personnel and material resources at German embassies, especially in the neighboring countries of crisis countries;
► a directive from the Federal Foreign Office stating that every German diplomatic mission abroad is responsible for accepting visa applications from crisis countries and that these must be processed immediately;
► an immediate formal moratorium on deportations to all crisis countries, to be decided by the IMK and the BMI;
► the granting of humanitarian visas to vulnerable people in regulated procedures based on clear deadlines;
► the suspension of the Dublin procedures.
Contact:
Lawyer Berenice Böhlo, +49(0)30 247 240 90, info@aufenthaltundsoziales.de;
Lawyer Barbara Wessel, +49(0)30 62 20 17 48, wessel@anwaeltinnen-kreuzberg.de
