The Working Group on Flight and Asylum from Reutlingen: A committed community
The AK Flucht Asyl meets once a month on Monday from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Eisenbahnstraße 14 in Reutlingen.
Who are we, the people from the asylum cafes?
We are an independent, religiously open and non-partisan group of women and men from very different professions. We see ourselves as part of the German movement against racism and xenophobia and cooperate with the Refugee Council BW and with PRO ASYL.
So: we are independent, which means: we are independent of the administration, be it the BAMF, the immigration office, the district office, etc. We are the lobby for the interests of refugees. And these are often completely different from the interests of politicians or the authorities mentioned.
We are religiously open, which means that anyone, whether they belong to a religious denomination or not, can get involved with us. On the other hand, we protect ourselves against people who try to exploit the situation of refugees in order to convert them. Regardless of this, it is right that we work closely with the asylum ministry and social associations.
We are non-partisan, which means that it doesn't matter whether you are a member of a political party or not. The same applies here as with religious affiliation. Anyone who tries to abuse refugees for their own political purposes would have a problem with us.
What support do we offer?
We accompany asylum seekers on a voluntary basis in their asylum process and support them in their integration and participation in our city.
We:
- Organize meeting points/asylum cafes (where possible with childcare)
- Helping asylum seekers learn German
- Advice on everyday matters
- Support with contact with authorities, doctor's visits, forms, understanding letters
- Information about professional help
- Help with questions about residence and work with asylum lawyers.
Every volunteer can contribute their knowledge and skills. No one should feel put off, for example because of the responsibility for the fate of a refugee or because of a lack of language and/or legal knowledge. Everyone helps where they like. And we don't leave the volunteers alone, we run training courses and exchange information on a regular basis.
How did it all start?
Let us remember: In the years of the newly reunified Germany, there were attacks on refugee homes and Jewish memorial sites. There were murders of foreign citizens. Reutlingen was largely spared. But when stones were thrown at the accommodation of asylum seekers from Iran in the autumn of 1991, Reutlingen woke up too: the "Alliance against Racism and Xenophobia" was quickly formed. A group emerged from this alliance that initially called itself AK Refugees and then ran the two asylum cafes in the Wildermuth settlement in RT-Betzingen and in the "Ringelbach".
The immediate reason for the founding of the Asylum Café and its opening on Thursday, July 2, 1992, was a memorable event: the accelerated 6-week procedure was to be tested in Reutlingen. This meant that asylum seekers were to be admitted, heard, rejected and deported in this short period of time. A branch of the Sigmaringen Administrative Court was even set up to speed up the procedures. The legal basis was created by the Asylum Procedure Act, which came into force on July 1, 1992. Reutlingen was the first place in Germany where the accelerated procedures were practiced. This required voluntary resistance, especially when one year later (on June 28, 1993) Article 16a of the Basic Right to Asylum was introduced, almost completely abolishing the basic right to asylum.
Due to the increase in the number of refugees assigned to Reutlingen, around 25 asylum cafes were opened in the various parts of the city and in the district.
In summary, one can say: Together with the Asylum Pastoral Office, we can look back on more than 30 years of work with and for refugees.
