Press release
of October, 18th 1998

Congress „Responsibility for New Politics“

PRO ASYL urgently demands reworks of Red-Green
Courage, not faintheartedness are in demand – visions instead of restrictions

At the Congress „Responsibility for a New, Future-oriented Politics“ in the Gustav-Stresemann Institute in Bonn (16. – 18. October 1998) the spokesperson of the Nationwide Human Rights Organisation for Refugees PRO ASYL, Heiko Kauffmann called upon the negotiating parties of the future coalition of Socialdemocrats and Greens to provide urgent reworks of the aliens and asylum law.

Kauffmann demanded „a break with the ideologically encrusted aliens and asylum policy having got stuck in the last 16 years“. Human rights, protection of minorities and refugees should be part of the clear winners of a change in politics.

„Signal of the start to a future-oriented politics would be the hope on inclusion of all people living in Germany – and their participation and equal treatment with a view to social, economic, cultural and political rights“, declared Kauffmann. „There is necessary courage, not faintheartedness – visons instead of restrictions.“

Instead of the continuity of unworthy restrictions should get visible now the humane visions of an other human rights and refugee policy finding their results in the coalition agreements.

At the present state of the negotiations already completed, where only single reworks might be possible, would be the key words „ruling of hardship cases in the aliens law“ and „generous ruling of old cases“ without preconditions and restrictions for all people living in Germany since five years of central importance.

Kauffmann declared literally: „A clause on hardship cases would be a prerequisite for humanitarian decisions and discretionary power. The Aliens Act with its stare schematism und its restricted possibilities of legal protection produces in single cases wrong decisions who are no longer correctable“.

As a member of the Commission on Hardship Cases of North Rhine Westphalia I must say: We in the Commission often come to the conviction, that there are concrete and individual hardships; but we cannot pass any recommendation on to the authority, because we too remain put in the tight strait-jacket of the nationwide valid aliens laws. That means, that even if depressing and humanely moving destinies – as of refused asylum seekers – are hidden behind their applications, unfortunately, the Federal Law doesn’t grant the existing commissions on hardship cases any legal scope and the aliens offices are mandatorily bound to the decisions of the Federal Office. Therefore the negotiations on these items must be re-opened.