100 participants at the vigil: A group of helpers is worried about Nigerian families

Created: 01/24/2022, 14:02

The Bernried helpers' group had called for a solidarity and vigil.

© Ralf Ruder

Around 100 participants recorded a solidarity and vigil on Wednesday, which the "Helferkreis Bernried" called for.

According to Gaby Dorsch and Monika Kurg, who are active in the group of helpers, the campaign is intended to draw attention to the fate of two families from Nigeria who have an “enforceable obligation to leave the country”.

Bernried: According to Dorsch, the two families are the focus of the deportation policy because they are from Nigeria, even though they have integrated well in the six years that they have been living in Bernried.

They have learned the German language, are involved in clubs and have been offered jobs.

And for their children, who go to school here, Germany is already their home.

Immediately looked for work and also got employment contracts

One of the women concerned confirmed this.

Her family came to Bernried after a two-month stay in a refugee camp and met lovely people here.

She and her husband immediately looked for work because they wanted to work and were given employment contracts.

One problem is that they do not have the necessary papers that are required by the authorities.

Elisabeth Rind-Schmidt from the circle of helpers criticized the "significant tightening of the legal interpretation of the residence and residency law".

The scope of discretion was "depending on the federal state and district office interpreted and applied more and more narrowly".

Bavaria was, "as is so often the case, number one on this point," and the district is on board, she explained.

Appeal to district administrator: Use discretion

Rind-Schmidt appealed to District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiss to use the discretionary powers that exist in the law in favor of the two families.

They would only want to live and work here because a good life is not possible in Nigeria.

To claim that they came to Germany "only for economic reasons" does not do justice to the situation.

There is nothing reprehensible about looking for a future for yourself and your children.

It should also be considered that there are many economic sectors in Germany in which workers are urgently needed.

In this sense, the traffic light coalition agreement also calls for a paradigm shift towards a modern immigration country.

For example, migrants should be given a right to stay after four to six years and after appropriate integration services.

Text: Alfred Schubert