Background information about the deportation camp Halberstadt
Get involved in the activities for the shutdown of the deportation camp Halberstadt!
Deportation camps, which are called "Departure Centres" ("Ausreisezentren") or "Central Deportation Points" ("Zentrale Abschiebestellen") by the interior ministries, are remote and fenced-in camps for refugees who are to be deported. In contrast to deportation custody, there is no judicial decision and revision nor a time limit. The Ausländerbehörde decides itself per "Wohnsitzauflage" ("Condition about residence") who must stay there, and often enough these decisions are arbitrary. The refugees can only try to get out of the camp by going to court afterwards.
There had been no legal basis for these camps until the Zuwanderungsgesetz (immigration act) came into effect on 03rd of January 2005. About their purpose, § 61 II AufenthG (residence law) says that deportation camps are to increase the "willingness for a voluntary departure".
In Saxony-Anhalt, the deportation camp was established in Halberstadt on 01st of January 2002. The only legal basis was a decree of the interior ministry. The refugees are to be brought to leave Germany by psychological pressure and social isolation. Their living conditions are:
- "Residenzpflicht" for the district of the Ausländerbehörde Halberstadt, i.e. the refugees may not leave this district - no money, only contributions in kind for indisputably necessary things - no time limit for the stay in the deportation camp - questioning about their identity by employees of the Ausländerbehörde - shortened validity of the "Duldungen" - no permission to work - loss of the social contacts the refugees had established in the districts where they had lived before
Up to now, there are deportation camps in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt. The result of all refugee camps, until now, is the illegalization of about one half of the refugees. 52 of the 112 refugees who had been transferred to Halberstadt until 31st of December 2003 became illegal. 8 refugees were deported.
The deportation camp Halberstadt
The deportation camp Halberstadt is situated on the grounds of the Zentrale Anlaufstelle (ZASt). All new asylum applicants who are moved to Saxony-Anhalt first come here, before they are transferred to the towns and districts (Landkreise) in the region.
The ZASt Halberstadt was established in a former military barracks complex 7 kilometres outside the town in 1991. No building renovations have been made, only the facades have been painted since then. The rooms are furnished with old supplies.
The deportation camp is in block A, which has room for 400 people. The ZASt is in block B and block C. In block A, the 5th floor has been separated with locked bars. Unaccompanied women and couples without children live there, the bars are said to be for their protection. The accomodation of the refugees is financed by the Landkreise from where they were transferred to the deportation camp.
Who can be transferred into a deportation camp
According to the Zuwanderungsgesetz, all refugees who are "obliged to leave" can be transferred into a deportation camp. All refugees whose asylum application has been rejected are obliged to leave. When there are "Abschiebehindernisse" (obstacles to a deportation), the refugees receive a "Duldung". Only 1.2 % of all asylum applicants are granted asylum after their first application in Germany. The Bundesländer (federal states) are exclusively responsible for the establishment of a deportation camp. The Zuwanderungsgesetz says only that a deportation camp can be established, nothing more.
According to the decrees of the interior ministry of Saxony-Anhalt, every foreigner with a Duldung can be transferred to the deportation camp if he or she offends against the "Mitwirkungspflicht" ("duty of participation").The „Mitwirkungspflicht"
All people who have asked for asylum are obliged to participate in the procurement of passport substitute papers, when they have no passport any more. That means mostly, they must go to embassy hearings so that their identity is checked. When the embassy claims that a refugee would not come from its country, it is assumed that the refugee lies. He / She would try to not be deported and therefore offend against the duty of participation.
Embassy hearings
For a politically persecuted person, this hearing means to get in touch with the embassy of his/her persecutors. There, he/she is questioned about his/her person, and sometimes a language analysis is made. A refugee who does not want to be deported into his country of origin has naturally a low motivation to participate in his deportation. But there are also problems with the embassies. Two examples: The Syrian state refuses to accept Syrian Kurds as citizens. Sudan refuses to accept non-Arabic-speaking Sudaneses... This means for the concerned people to offend against the Mitwirkungspflicht.
Passport substitute papers
Many refugees destroy their papers when they have arrived in the country where they want to ask for asylum. Normally they get a note in their papers when crossing a border legally. Because of the restriction in the constitution, that no asylum applicants who have entered the country from a "safe third country" ("sicherer Drittstaat") are accepted, the refugees can directly be deported there when they still have this passport - for example from Germany to Poland and from there to Ukraine. Only if these refugees conceal their fleeing route, they are not directly deported. Others flee without having papers with them, or they must give them to their smugglers. But thereby they offend against the duty of participation.
Safe third countries
These are states who are supposed to carry out fair asylum proceedings. All states which border on Germany are classified safe third countries. This rule has been existing since the change of the constitution (Grundgesetz; Basic Law) in 1993 and leads to the consequence that refugees can be deported directly at the borders, as for example to Poland. Poland, on the other had, has deportation agreements with Ukraine and Slovenia. The consequences are so-called chain deportations.
"Residenzpflicht"
The Residenzpflicht means the restriction of the human right of the freedom of movement. Refugees in Germany are assigned to a certain Landkreis or town. They may not leave this district without a permission from the Ausländerbehörde. The Residenzpflicht is justified with the necessity of the refugees' permanent availability. The refugees in the deportation camp Halberstadt receive a Duldung only for the Landkreis Halberstadt, as long as they continue not to participate in the procurement of passport substitute papers.
Duldung
The Duldung is a certificate about the temporary suspension of the deportation because of obstacles to a deportation (Abschiebehindernisse). But a Duldung is no residence permit. As a rule, it is valid for 3 to 6 months. The refugees in the deportation camp Halberstadt receive a Duldung which is valid only two weeks, in some cases only one day, or they are given no Duldung at all. Without a Duldung they have no valid papers and therefore can not even leave the camp site. If they do, they can be arrested whenever there is a police control.
Abschiebehindernisse
Abschiebehindernisse (obstacles to a deportation) can be for example missing passport substitute papers or diseases. Also if torture or murder are possible, this is a Abschiebehindernis. But Abschiebehindernisse are often not accepted and refugees are deported in countries like Turkey where they are arrested, tortured, or even killed after their arrival.
Medical care for the refugees in the deportation camp
The medical care for asylum seekers and refugees with a Duldung is reduced to a minimum. That means an illness must be acute or painful, otherwise it has not to be treated. In the ZASt complex, there is only a nurse. Before a refugee can see a doctor, he/she must apply for this at the Sozialamt, and the nurse must have recommended this. The Sozialamt can give the permission only if there is a Duldung for the respective day. For the concerned people, these bureaucratic hurdles are a harassment. The next medical practice is 7 km away. Since the refugees get no payments, they must cover this distance on foot. Moreover, they are often denied a medical treatment at all. That means that the medical care is not ensured.
John William
On the 4th of April 2004, John William died after living one and a half year in the deportation camp. Despite severe symptoms like paralysis and the loss of his eyesight, he had not been treated adequately. In the beginning of 2004 he came into the university hospital Halle-Kröllwitz, already in a coma. In the end of march he was moved to the old people's home Meyendorf, where he died. Neither his lawyer nor his friends in the deportation camp had been informed about his death. He was buried in an anonymos urn in the cemetery of Kleinwanzleben. Only in June his lawyer and the refugees were informed about John William's death by supporters of the refugees in the deportation camp.
no lager halle, c/o Infoladen, Ludwigstr. 37, 06110 Halle