In memory of Shambu Lama and strenghtening the refugees community in eastern Niedersachsen towards the Tribunal

On Saturday, 2^nd March of 2013, the day started at 11 a.m. with a rally in remembrance of Shambu Lama in Gifhorn. He was forced by the Ausländerbehörde to kill himself on 1^st March of 2011. After 15 years of suffering under tortures and steady oppression by the German state and its aggressive executors in Gifhorn they finished the destruction of an individual, by stealing a 10-months old son his father forever. Around 60 activists from the region came together. In speeches it became clear, that they are still trying to destroy refugees and their families. Refugees from Meinersen, Peine and Fallersleben informed about their actual situation of being directly oppressed by racist laws and racist authorities. Activists of The Caravan Network and others expressed solidarity. People passing the rally took some informations with them, several white germans of older age stopped, to swear against us. (Report from the year ago in German: http://thecaravan.org/node/3182)

Afterwards we came together in the Lager of Meinersen, that has a strong history of suffering from and fighting against the brutal conditons people are forced to live in. Being there, the „Lagerleiter“ tried to prohibit a meeting in the Lager but we started in the corridor with the screening of a music video, MC Nuri made in this place a year ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8a_eQaIinE). The next two shown videos (speech by Osaren The VOICE Forum in Caravan Festival against colonial injustice 2010 Jena http://vimeo.com/58448462 and conference and protest in front of the meanwhile closed down isolation-Lager Zella Mehlis  http://thevoiceforum.org/node/2087 were attended by salvos and shoutings „Das Lager muss weg! Das Lager muss weg!“ and it became clear, that we can only quit the systematic torture and killing of people, if we unite and fight together against it.

On the meeting, important upcoming dates were introduced:

From 19^th to 21^st of April, the Refugee Women´s Conference will take place in Hamburg (http://thecaravan.org/files/caravan/Refugee_Women_Conference_2013_call.pdf) and refugees from Wolfsburg-Fallersleben are organizing a demonstration on the 27th of April in Wolfsburg to bring the struggle and our demands out to the streets.

Local connections were strenghten and the next meeting will be hosted by the friends from the Lager in Peine on 6^th of April 2013.