<m2m-eng> Walk like a Somali
Jo van der Spek M2M
jo at xs4all.nl
Fri Dec 30 14:47:56 CET 2011
dear friends,
together with our best wishes to all M2M people, we salute the great
Occupy-action by (mostly) Somalian refugees that camped again for a week in
the face of Uitzetcentrum Ter Apel.
They finished their action after 56 people made an agreement with the IND.
The political struggle to include ALL refugees with no papers or shelter to
be included in this deal.
Below you can read their Press Statement
Message for all our supporters, all refugees on the street and the press
Friday 30 december - Refugees on the street Amsterdam Rotterdam Utrecht
Vught
56 Somalians Ter Apel made a deal and got shelter in an AZC
Other Somalians still want a real solution for all
56 Ter Apel people accepted the new offer for shelter in an AZC and after
that a (more) serious new asylumprocedure, monitored by lawyers and
refugeesupportorganisations and all the national and international press.
This, according to the negotiators, will give them a serious new chance. We
are very glad that the people in Ter Apel were not frozen to death and are
warm and safe now! But... Somalian refugees on the street outside ter Apel
and in Vught are discussing their next steps because we are not in the deal
! We also would like the same treatment and shelter in an AZC.
Only just at 2 o clock in the night we, the refugees on the street outside
Ter Apel fully understood what had happened yesterdayevening in Ter Apel.
All telephones were out of batteries so Ter Apel was not to reach. As we
understood from the spokesmen/refugees inside, the lawyer and Marianne
Bathoorn, to accept the offer was the best thing to do and only possibility.
The refugees and others were freezing to death, it was very very cold, they
were wet and sick, and some allready 'onderkoeld'. They could not have
lasted there much longer. The 56 people now are warm and safe. Also there
were allready racist people supposed to have been visiting the place.
For us it is not clear yet what this result will bring us/them finally.
First they get 4 weeks rest. After that they have the chance for a new and
'more carefully handled' ('zorgvuldiger) asylumprocedure. No guarantees or
promises were given for that black on white but the refugees who were there
trusted the negotiators on this. The lawyer(s), Somalian- and
refugee-organisations are going to monitor the procedure. They see this as a
solution for this group and want to go on looking for solutions for the
whole group.
What about the others?
We can say that all refugees in Vught and outside ter Apel are very much
disappointed and worried about that this deal is not including them. Some
(at least three that we personally know) were for example too sick to come
to Ter Apel or too vulnerable. Are they now not in the deal?
One woman had after months and months sleeping in the homeless-shelterplaces
or even outside, with a lot of medical problems, finally got two weeks
shelter to get rest and just at that moment the Ter Apel camp started. She
decided not to come because she needed rest. We cannot accept someone like
her to be outside the deal !!
We however are very proud and have great respect for the people in the camp
in ter Apel and for all the help of people in Emmen, Ter Apel and everywere
we are VERY greatfull ! THANK YOU ALL!
We don't agree with the IND who says in the media that this action was not a
necesary one. We got the most attention on this problem, even reaching out
to international media. That means we can hold the minister on his promise
to let the lawyers and others watch the procedures and to treat them very
'zorgvuldig' and better then usually. Also we still have the tents and
blankets in case anything happens that we don't like.
We strongly request to also let the Vught people and people outside Ter Apel
in the shelter. We just heard they are going to a real AZC so not a VBL as
the first group.
Yasin: 06 855 11130
Nuuradiin: 06 41 444 048
Vluchtelingenopstraat at gmail.com, vluchtelingenopstraat.blogspot.com
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