STAY HERE!

For the right to stay in Germany for children and young people as well as their families.
For the complete recognition of the UNO-children's rights.


Dear colleagues,

At the beginning of this year the refugee council asked the GRIPS Theater for help because children and young people are disappearing, because the police pick them up during schooltime in order to carry out deportation orders.
Since the new immigration laws came into force on January 1st of this year the situation for the 200,000 "tolerated" refugees living in Germany has become more uncertain than ever before. Children and young people who were born in Germany or who have spent most of their lives here are hardest hit by this change. They lose their friends and often don't even speak the language of the countries where they are deported to - not to mention the dangers there which in contrast to official statements they are often exposed to.

For these reasons the refugee council of Berlin, the Educationalist Union of Berlin (GEW Berlin) and the GRIPS Theater launched the campaign on April 5th "STAY HERE! For the right to stay in Germany for children and young people as well as their families". This supports the campaign called into life over two years ago by a broad social alliance for the right to stay for asylum seekers and "tolerated" refugees who have been living here for a long time.

One part of the campaign are materials for school lessons which offers to each grade from the 4th year up the possibility to grapple with the subjects "right to stay" and "UNO-children rights" in a critical way. These school materials are singularly conceived for each age group. Moreover, the children and young people are informed about their possibilities of political participation and they are encouraged to take a democratical influence on politics.

Another way to become active in this campaign is to design one side of a postcard. On the other side of the cards there is an appeal by children, young people and people working in the Arts to be put to the Interior Minister?s Conference to be held on June 23rd / 24th.
Apart from this GRIPS Theater has created a mobile play with the title "STAY HERE!" which will be performed in different schools of Berlin. Then it will go on tour together with an exhibition of the designed postcards to Stuttgart where the Interior Minister's Conference will take place. The postcard exhibition can also be found on the internet on www.hier.geblieben.net. We hope that as many classes as possible will participate in the campaign and therefore show the way: The Interior Minister's Conference should decide in favour of wideranging rights to stay and to stand up for a complete implementation of UNO-children?s rights in Germany.

Therefore we ask you to support our campaign by designing a postcard and by signing the children and young people?s appeal.
Moreover, it will help the cause to collect donations and to spread the word of the campaign so that more and more people will become aware of this subject, which is necessary if the decision in June is to be positively influenced.

APPEAL TO THE CONFERENCE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE INTERIOR IN STUTTGART:

We are children and young people of this world and in spite of all differences we are a part of a common reality. We deem ourselves united in our fight for a better world for everybody.
You say we are the future but we are also the present and therefore we demand:

• All children and young people who go to school or to kindergarten in Germany, who live here, who fled to Germany or who were born here should retain the right to live in the Federal Republic of Germany with their families. Their parents should be allowed to work in order to care for their children. Children should have the right to learn a profession. They should have the same right to work, to travel and to continue living here.
  
  
• All those who are ill, old, who need help or who are disabilitated by war or other events must be supported by us. They also should be allowed to stay here. Families should be allowed to live here together.
  
  
• The Interior Minister's Conference should finally pass a law that enables a right to stay for only "tolerated" refugees and they should stand up for the complete recognition of the UNO-children rights.