Human rights for migrants and refugees!

Illegalization

Women in the Underground - Living (or Surviving) Without Papers

Various causes have moved ever more women and girls from all over the world in the last two decades to seek their livelihood in Western Europe.

Migration can offer them a new chance in life, but also carries the risk of being traded with or be subjected to economic or sexual exploitation. The United Nations refers to these cases as a "contemporary form of slavery" and thus a human rights violation.

Neither the UN protocol against human trafficking, nor the EU directives and the new criminal acts recorded in the Penal Code (§ § 232, 233, 233a), that include, since February of this year, all forms of labor exploitation, have been the subject of public debate in Germany to date. It is time to publicly debate the relationship between migration and trafficking, how to combat it and how to support its victims.

We present here the Cologne counselling concept for people without papers, which has been developed by Cologne refugee organizations.These refugee organizations have become especially mobilized in the last two decades, as more and more women and girls from all over the world come to seek their livelihood in Western Europe.

Beratungskonzept_für_papierlose_Menschen.pdf

pdf, 103.8K, 11/04/08, 2813 downloads

Information for People without Papers

Support for Sickness & Medical Problems:

in Köln, Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V offers medical help for people without papers or health insurance.
in Bonn, the medical agency MediNetzBonn, www.medinetzbonn.de
in Bochum, the organization medizinischen Flüchtlingshilfe Bochum gives aid to refugees, www.mfh-bochum.de
In all cases, the anonymity of the patient will be protected.

School Attendance for Children: in NRW, parents are not legally required to give their legal residence status when registering their children for school. That way, the children have the right to attend school without the fear of deportation.

Right to Wages: in addition, people without legal residence status have the right to sue for their wages. Given their oft-precarious situation, this can be difficult to accomplish, but it is possible.

Consequences:

Many migrant women are looking for an opportunity to better their living conditions and find protection, and illegalization puts a heavy burden on their shoulders. When women are criminalized for having no papers, they become susceptible to blackmail.

Consequences:

unprotected working conditions, e.g., wages under minimum wage, industrial safety regulations not met
no protection from violence, e.g., victims of assault do not have the opportunity to go to the police or to file charges for fear of being deported
no right to healthcare or medical treatment: hospitals often either refuse to treat illegal immigrants or deliver them to the police immediately following treatment
no right to education, even though a compulsory education law exists in Germay: when a child starts school, parents without legal residence status rely on the schools to be silent to the authorities.
perpetual fear of deportation: in central train stations and other places the police can check without any suspicion, and raids are carried out in construction zones, restaurants, and other workplaces.