Black refugees from the Ukraine, here on the Hungarian border, are exposed to multiple forms of discrimination while fleeing.
Photo: dpa/Nicola Marfisi
»Harriet Tubman 1820–1913, freedom fighter« reads a sign at the entrance to the former Adlerhalle on the Dragoon area in Kreuzberg. It was put up by activists on Wednesday afternoon. “We want to show solidarity with the Tubman network, which could lose the rooms here at the end of the month,” says a resident of the Dragoon area. The Tubman Network is a Berlin coalition of black organizations and individuals. It is named after the Afro-American escape helper Harriet Tubman, who helped free more than 300 enslaved people from the southern United States in the 19th century.
Since July of this year, the network has been using the Adlerhalle in the Dragoon area as a contact point for people from Africa who have lived in Ukraine for various reasons and fled to Germany to escape the war. They were exposed to a variety of forms of discrimination. “This group of Ukrainian war refugees is largely falling through the cracks in the aid systems,” reports Tubman Network’s Kahbit Ebob Enow. Over 2,500 people have accepted the initiative’s offer in the past six months. But her work is at risk because it is unclear whether the rooms will still be available. The contract for the Adlerhalle actually ended on August 31, but was extended by Berliner Immobilien Management GmbH (BIM) by another month. At the end of September, the future question of space urgently arises for the Tubman network.
Together with supporters and around 25 African students who fled Ukraine, the network therefore invited to a round table on Wednesday afternoon. Numerous other initiatives expressed their solidarity with the anti-racist network, including the Mietenwahnsinn-Bündnis, which numerous Berlin tenants have joined together to form. Residents and users of the Dragoon area also came. They all shared the demand that Uwe from the “Who Owns Kreuzberg?” initiative summarizes as follows: “We are demanding that the BIM and the Berlin Senate give the Tubman Network a permanent place to stay” – in the form of a written assurance. After all, the initiative had been put off several times with promises that were then not kept.
It was reminded that BIM manages over 5000 properties in Berlin and there is still no information on how the hall at the Dragoner Areal is to be used further. Several activists from the Tubman Network say they thought about how the great hall could have been used during the cold season. There was even a financial budget for heating options. However, the implementation of the plans failed because BIM had not promised to remain in the hall permanently. The participants of the Round Table felt the consequences in the truest sense of the word: warm blankets were distributed in the autumn temperatures.
Despite the adverse circumstances, the determination of those involved was great to support the anti-racist network in the fight for a room. If the BIM does not get involved in negotiations, they want to discuss further steps. “If necessary, we have to occupy rooms,” said one supporter and received a lot of support for this suggestion. In any case, there is solidarity in the Dragoon area against displacement through high rents, as well as against racist exclusion. That became clear again on Wednesday.
