sw, Konstanz 14. Februar 2000

Protocol from the women working group in Freiburg, Saturday, 5th February

Summary of the discussion in the working-group "situation of refugee and migrant women"

Participants in the working group in the afternoon

8- 10 women from the refugee camp in Offenburg (of Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey-Kurdistan)
2 women from Villa Courage
1-2 women from Saga, a journalist, a kurdish woman from Freiburg (who did translate), Kerstin, Cornelius, Traudi

Reports on the situation for women in their countries

General report on the situation of women in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan women are not allowed to leave their house without a man and without wearing this specific black rope/mantel/cape. It is forbidden to show a single part of the body. amputations of visible parts of the body.
Taliban steel young women during the night to force them to marry one of them
Especially for educated women who are used to lead a public life, have a job, earn their own money, the situation is very hard: for now they are bound to the house and can't work anymore
If a woman has problems with her health, there is no way to see a doctor because man are not allowed to see her and women are not allowed to work.

Situation for women in the war in Kurdistan

"It is bad to be a kurdish man, it is even worse to be a kurdish woman"

Kurdish women have most of time no possibilities to go to school or even to study, many can't even write nor read.
There is no special law which forbids education for girls but this is due to the infrastructural and economic situation, the poverty of the people and the lack of schools in the villages and countryside destroyed by the war. And there is any possibility to send children to schools, boys come first.
In the war, many, many women are raped by the Turkish military. The women consider this as shame (?), they cannot speak about it, have fear of being excluded by their own family.

Remark of the translator who had translated a lot of kurdish women:

In this war, probably up to one third of the kurdish women have been raped. They do not know how to cope with this experience, feel themselves dirty, but don't realise that it makes them mentally ill , if this experience stays inside, if they don't speak about it. But even to her as a solidary women many of them can't talk about it - but you feel what had happened to them. The following case illustrates how the own family is in fact a threat to the life of the women: Very often this are especially the young women who are in charge of the animal herds - alone and far away from somebody else - who are threatened by rapes. The woman from Offenburg told us about a case which was reported in the news paper "ozgur politica" (I have only a french computer, cant write the letters properly).A young girl who was garding the animals was raped and became pregnant. Because she did not want that her family knew about it, she stayed in the house of her aunt. But in the end the parents found out what had happened and killed her. Such things happen daily. Danger of raping also from the side of the "Dorfschuetzer", kurdish men who are in charge of the village, installed by the Turks. Around 80 000 "Dorfschuetzer" rape inside the own village. And Europe?

Many refugees who come to search asylum have no possibility to say the whole truth because they are nervous and ashamed. (But this causes often a "no" in the asylum case) The Europeans are also guilty because they sell weapons to Turkey, but when the refugees come they ask: Why are you here? The Europeans should not be helpers (german word: "Kruecken" - walking sticks) for Turkey.

In a asylum case in Switzerland, the interviewers made jokes on a raped woman and asked her for the colour of her underwear. The woman broke down after this.

Report of a young Christian woman on the situation of women in Iran: The family has converted four years ago which is known by the government -There is no liberty for women in Iran, women have to wear a tshador, may not leave the house. Christian women are considered as bad, Christians are persecuted.

Villa Courage in Freiburg

Nelida appealed to remind the own history, the history of the women's movement - which means also the own strength. The fact that women can sit here now and discuss is due to the successes of our predecessors, strong women who had fought for the rights and equality of women. Appeal to see and develop the own strength and power;

The work of Villa Courage: (Frauenkultur- und Fluechtlingshaus in Freiburg) examples:

fight against Paragraph 19, which means the demand for a own right of residence for women, whose residence is until now connected with the residence of the man they are married to (be it German or a foreigner with a permission to stay); This means, the husband can do what he wants with the woman (exploitation, suppression, rape). In case of divorce the authorities are usually on the man's side - which often means deportation for the woman.
German courses
café
cultural program

Further ideas/ results of the following discussions in the afternoon and evening /via email

Overview over possible contents of the working groups

The pattern of women's rights abuse seems to be similar all over the world: the main types of human rights abuses on women are

sexual violence: as a systematic method of suppression, also as a method of war like in Ex-Yugoslavia or Kurdistan, as well as committed by so called private persons - while the state or the society doesn't protect the women;
"sexual apartheid": special laws for women, woman are not allowed to participate in public life in the same way as men, life of women is worth less.
The consequences are often deadly: death penalty for neglecting these laws or death or illness of women as a consequence of bad treatment (see the report on Afghanistan or regard the consequences of Genital Mutilation)
Persecution of women as wives, mothers, daughters etc. of persecuted men;

This is only a very short overview.

The asylum case

The sexism of these discriminations is very often continued in the way German (or European) Asylum-deciders argue and in the way women are treated in the asylum case. They often legitimise suppression and persecution of women as cultural difference or misbehaviour of private persons (even if they are military or police), that means: not relevant for asylum. Persecution of women because of their sex is often not seen as "political". The situation of the interview does often not respect the specific needs (e.g. Lack of female interviewers and translators, insensitive-sensitive questions...) The treatment of the Iranian women in Nuernberg is one example for the continuation of the sexist oppression in the country of origin through German authorities.

Nevertheless, the consciousness concerning human rights abuses towards woman has obviously changed in the last 10 years - due to for example a demand of female Bundestagsabgeordnete and a campaign of amnesty international - says Ursula Mees-Asadollah. The German law offers possibilities to recognise the reasons for flight which women have - but the decisions of the courts and the Bundesamt are sometimes contradictory, i.e. they differ. To have an overview of the decisions of German courts in the asylum cases of women see: Ursula Mees-Asadollah, Frauenspezifische Verfolgung in der Asylpraxis, in: "Handbuch der Asylarbeit". (also on our Internet-page http://www.linksrhein.de/archiv/c/index.htm)

Other important topics concerning the situation of refugee and migrant women in Germany could be:

The social and hygienic situation in the refugee camps:

for single women, women with families, medical support, hygienic conditions sufficient shelter of (sexual) violence?

How to cope with the specific isolation of women because of their gender role:

(less presence in public than men, sometimes less education etc., language problem) Cultural centres like Villa Courage and other selforganisations try to counter this kind of isolation. What about refugee camps in small cities where there are no such organisations? responsibility of Germans?

The struggle for an autonomous right of residence (against Paragraph 19)

=> Villa Courage

The situation of illegalized women

psychological and social situation
medical supply: pregnancy, abortion...
women with children

connected:

How to fight exploitation and deportation threat to (illegalized) migrant worker women

(who are forced to work as houseworkers, dancers, sexworkers) => See the work of organisations like agrisra

The group of - illegal - sex-workers is probably a very large group of women under permanent deportation threat but their destiny is - because of the conditions of their work -mostly unknown to refugee groups, supporters, antiracist groups. [Only in the newspaper you can read the next day, that the police had arrested four illegals in a razzia - thank god, the reader thinks, they protect us from these criminals]

Women in deportation prison

Some groups are working with the women in or do publicity on the deportation prison for women "Frauenabschiebeknast", Neuss. Women of "Caritas" as well as autonomous groups. (see internet-page). Generally, I think, the Karawane could consider if the congress can find a way to integrate refugees living in deportation prisons.

Questions on the working groups of the congress:

How can the groups lead to a perspective?

On one hand collecting facts and experiences is important to make to yourself clear in which situation you are and what you're fighting against. But the experiences are often similar and it takes a lot of time. Maybe certain questions can lead the discussion of a group into a constructive direction:

These questions are not formulated yet but maybe they could be:

Who are we? What are our rights (as women, as refugees, as human beings)? Who is insulting these rights? Why? What do we want? What is the imagination of our lives as it should be? What can we do for that? What can other people do for that? How do we make this clear to others? To the public?

Maybe one result of the congress could be a bill of rights of refugees.

I can't think about these questions without thinking of possible results: continuous working groups, reunions in all refugee-camps all over Germany, which are in contact with each other (and have internet, of course). They will be called "refugee council" and they meet each week.

Another - for the moment - very important question is: How to mobilise women for the congress?

The best thing would be to develop also preparation groups on the subject (for women, or: on the situation of women). But many caravan groups might not be able to do this work. At least I think, women should be specially invited, maybe with a special flyer on which they can not only find the addresses of the caravan-organisations but also of women-groups or selforganisation groups around - if there are any.

There was the idea in Freiburg of adding a kind of questionary and to ask the women to write - if they want- about the situation of woman in their countries, about their specific experiences in the German asylum process, about the conditions in the refugees camp, about their ideas what should be different, about their political engagements, if they have contact to any groups around. The questions are examples which can be discussed. The whole idea should be discussed, because I'm not sure about it. Is it too much like an inquiry - it could be also anonymous, that is clear or could the results be a good basis for the discussion or even be published in a reader or a book? Does it need more energy and work than to organise mobilisation meetings or could it be easier or could both be done? Please discuss this as an idea - maybe some of the groups would like to do that.

Another idea for mobilisation is: Photo- or videotours with refugee women through the refugee camp - if a group has enough capacity to do this. Maybe you find more.

Some other things:

Men should not feel excluded from the discussion, they are also invited to the preparation meeting, and human rights abuses on women do also concern men - in different ways. Nevertheless it should be clear that there has to be the possibility to establish women groups be it in Nuernberg or in Jena if any woman should wish that. On the organisational level we should also see that there are enough facilities for women with children. There should also be babysitters.