Refugee aid

"The dignity of human beings is inviolable"

On Monday, 23 October, Christian, Julia and I set off from the mobile refugee aid Würzburg with a van full of material donations in the form of blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, warm clothing and hygiene items to Gorizia, northern Italy. We had been alerted by a call for help for material goods on a social network. The call was accompanied by an image that burned itself into my memory. It reminded me of the images from the inhumane refugee camp Calais, France. The image shows a pedestrian tunnel in the northern Italian small town of Gorizia near the Slovenian border. In this tunnel you can see sleeping people crowded tightly to one side, approximately a hundred in number. With blankets pulled far over their heads, they lie on the cold, damp stone floor. They are refugees, predominantly from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Once we arrived in Italy, this image took on an even more alarming dynamic for us. It shows very clearly the ambivalence of different life realities within Europe. On one "free" side of the tunnel, the residents of Gorizia go about their daily business busily, stroll with dogs and shopping past the sleeping people, as if the world were fine and in order, and on the other side the refugees, who have been forced to set up their camps in the sparse tunnel. A border has also emerged here, running right through the Gorizian pedestrian tunnel. Although it may appear invisible to the observer at first glance, it is hardly to be overlooked upon closer inspection.

According to local volunteers, between five and twenty new refugees arrive in Gorizia each day. Due to overcrowding in the camps and the hope of the responsible authorities that if they made it as uncomfortable as possible, they would disappear of their own accord, they are forced to sleep on the street for up to two weeks. After the registration process with the local authority is completed, they are moved into sparse accommodation with inadequate provision.

But until then, the refugees, crowded together like animals, spend the increasingly cold nights in a damp, draughty tunnel. There are no sanitary facilities, only the adjacent woodland provides makeshift relief. They spend their free time in a nearby car park or in the town centre, watched suspiciously by the locals. They depend on the support of motivated volunteers who organise themselves and do everything in their power to provide people with food, tea, sleeping bags, warm clothing and sleeping mats. But for the helpers too, the situation is a great challenge. There are no existing structures to make their task easier; quite the opposite. Moreover, alongside their "voluntary work" they still have their own lives to manage. This means that whilst the provision has a symbolic and hospitable effect on the refugees, not all needs can always be met.

Through the non-profit organisation Unimo e.V. from Passau, which had already arrived a few days before us, we learned that the conditions in Gorizia are not an isolated case. They told us about the situation in Pordenone, approximately one hundred kilometres further north.

And so our supply and reconnaissance trip also took us there, because relief supplies are urgently needed here too. In the 50,000-inhabitant city, however, unlike in Gorizia, there is no central gathering point where people can sleep together and under cover; instead their sleeping places are scattered throughout the city. The registration process in Pordenone can take up to four weeks; during that time the refugees sleep in hastily improvised tents made of plastic sheeting, blankets and branches directly in front of the bleak, grey accommodation on cold stone floors. Others spend the night in the city park or in a car park in the so-called Bronx. Gabi, Andrea and Lorena are three independent volunteers to whom we handed over some material donations and who informed us about the situation of the refugees in their city. They showed us the various sleeping places, each one draughtier, sparser and damper than the last. They also told us about harassment by the local police, who chase people away to maintain a nice city image and take away their sleeping bags and blankets. Lorena also told me that many of the Afghans and Pakistanis are being pushed into crime. They keep themselves afloat through drug dealing or prostitution.

Sadness, anger, outrage, shock, despair, disbelief spread through me. "We were still within Europe, weren't there human rights conventions, fundamental rights protection and humanitarian international law?"

Through Mauro, an independent volunteer to whom we handed over the third part of our donations, we gained deeper insights into the situation in the camps. Whilst it is forbidden for most non-profit organisations to enter the accommodation, that was not necessary in Gradisca, approximately ten kilometres south of Gorizia. There the refugees voluntarily leave the camp early in the morning, which is housed in a former military complex, and only return there in the evening to sleep. They spend their days in the so-called "Jungle of Gradisca". The Jungle is located somewhat outside the city in a small woodland near the Isonzo River. A quiet, almost idyllic place where the refugees retreat. Here they can create a safe, self-organised space undisturbed. They have built their own tents with little more than the forest provides and set up seating, shelves and even a kitchen there. "In the Camp, the food is always the same, everyday white pasta and nothing else", a young Pakistani told us. The Jungle gives them the opportunity to cook their own food and tea as well as bake their own bread. We were welcomed very hospitably by the people. Despite the fact that we were strangers and they had every reason to be suspicious, relaxed conversations developed and we were offered chai tea and biscuits for breakfast. Incidentally, Mauro informed us about the conditions in the Cara Camp, for example that it was forbidden to bring donations in and that he therefore arranged to meet the people here day after day to be able to bring them what they needed. His commitment impressed us deeply. It is difficult to put the contradictory feelings about this parallel world into words. On one hand, it is beautiful to see how people reclaim a piece of autonomy and dignity through the Jungle of Gradisca and spend their days here in community. On the other hand, I am dismayed that conditions for people in the accommodation hardly change at all.

Gorizia, Pordenone and Gradisca are scenes of a European tragedy. People who left their home countries, families and friends out of fear of death, terror, torture and war and placed their hopes in a human rights-affirming, humane Europe are now bitterly disappointed by it and their flight finds no end. Because what shocked us perhaps most of all crystallised only in personal conversations with the people: "Do you come from Germany?", we were asked repeatedly. "Yes, from Würzburg", we answered. "And where do you come from?" "I also come from Germany", many answered in fluent German. Because a large part of the guys who have set up their sparse camps in the Gorizian tunnel, in the Bronx of Pordenone or in the bleak Cara Camp of Gradisca have fled from Germany. Darmstadt, Berlin, Trier, Munich are some of the cities from which they set off to Italy. We were totally perplexed when they told us their personal stories. Three, four, seven or even nine years, some of the men had already lived in Germany. They speak fluent German, had jobs or apprenticeships, an apartment, friends and conscientiously paid their taxes. One could certainly speak of successful integration in common parlance, because the Federal Commissioner for Foreigners defines integration as "equal coexistence of culturally and otherwise different persons and groups in a society." We couldn't believe our ears. "Did you receive a deportation order?", we asked the men. Some nodded in agreement, others told us that the mere thought of the order and its legal challenge, which demands high costs, had frightened them and that is why they had come to Italy. They hope to find opportunities here for a residence permit that would strengthen their position if they return to Germany. Whether and how realistic that is, we do not judge. What is alarming is that the mere fear of deportation causes people to have to resume their flight after their lives have slowly normalised and they began to feel comfortable. After everything we have heard and seen in Italy, we are agreed: "The dignity of human beings is inviolable" (Art. 1 Para. 1 S.1 GG, amended version 2017).

One can only hope that the international public, which is slowly turning its gaze to the conditions in northern Italy, will force the government and Europe to act. There is a need for a solidary, European Union that acts out of humanity alone, apart from institutions.

Julia Boving