Mass deportation from Hamburg airport

Mass deportation from Hamburg airport took place on monday 9 a.m. accompanied by massive police forces. Activists protested in the airport hall.

The "Ausländerbehörde Hamburg" and the ministrey for interior (Hamburg) organized for this morning (13.09.2004) a charter deportation to Africa. A part of the public place of the airport was closed and controlled by police. 30 activists protested meanwhile inside the airport. With speaches, slogans, banners and theater they informed the passengers about the hidden criminal act beside the main hall.

Refugees from various african countries, hands tied on their back and heads pressed in helmets brutally treated and forced to enter the deportation plane was the hidden scene.

Sharp at nine o clock the plane enterd the field and started 10 minutes later. The airline was the german AERO FLIGHT. The other plane which brought reugees under deportation from switzerland to hamburg was from the swiss air line LIONS AIR.

The days before the hamburg authorities gave no concrete information concerning date, countries etc they only launched to the press that 40 - 50 persons should be deported in september to africa. Minutes after the take off the ministery of interior (Hamburg) pushed a press release proudly boasting a sucess of "international and germanwide cooperation against criminality and illegal immigration". According to the press release 17 persons were deported to Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin. 5 federal states of Germany (11 refugees) and also Belgium and Switzerland (6 refugees) were involved. The senator for interior Nagel stated that this international mass deportations was an excellent example for the future. Nobody knows who was deported and with which background. But it is kown that the german authorities are deporting people with faked and false papers, that they are connected with corrupted immigration officers (for example in Burkina Faso) and that the refuse asylum for people who are in danger of life because of their oppositional engagment. Concerning to Togo the exil opposition as well as human rights organisations are demanding a general deportation stop. The brutality and arbitrariness of the Eyadema regime is well known. But on the basis of false country reports written by the german foreign office and the foreign minister Fischer the courts are rejecting political refugees in masses.

To counter the increasing europewide mass deportation, the hiding of infromations, the total rightnessless of the victims and the massive human right violations plus the police brutality is a serious challenge for all refugees and their organisation, all human right defenders, democrats, antiracists and left and progressive forces on the international level.

To protest against role of the hamburg authorities you can call:

Behörde für Inneres, Rainer Fallak: 0049 (0)40-428 39 22 66

Ausländerbehörde, Norbert Smekal: 0049 (0)40-428 39 27 97

Long live the international solidarity and the fight for the rights of the people

Karawane für die Rechte der Flüchtlinge und MigrantInnen

Sektion Nord / Koordinationskreis Hamburg

c/o Brigittenstrasse 5, 20359 Hamburg

Tel: 0049-(0)40-43 18 90 37, Fax: 0049-(0)40-43 18 90 38

mail: free2move@nadir.org