As the initiative “Sachsen muss aufnehmen” (“Saxony must accommodate”), we decided to carry out a small pre-launch of our campaign on the so-called “World Refugee Day” on June 20th. To this end, we had prepared banners with our logo and slogans like “Sachsen öffne dich” (“Open Saxony”).
We as Seebrücke Leipzig decided at short notice to support the pre-launch of “Sachsen muss aufnehmen” with a small rally and at the same time to draw attention to the unfair and inhumane conditions, in which refugees are forced to live. The rally took place on Willy-Brandt-Square near the main train station in Leipzig. There were several speeches about the unfair asylum system and other issues. There was also a great speech by a young Afghan activist and an open mic at the end of the rally. We also briefly presented the initiative “Sachsen muss aufnehmen” and distributed the prepared flyers with the our demands.
As we were all still sitting together after the end of the rally, a person came up to us and talked to us about the rally. He said that he had just come from work and then spontaneously stopped at our rally. He told us about people who walked past the rally shaking their heads and rolling their eyes, which is why it would be important not to let up and to continue to call attention to the rights of refugees and fugitives. This conversation confirmed once again that even such small actions are important and that the campaign “Sachsen muss aufnehmen” is necessary to put pressure on politics in order to finally introduce a humane asylum policy.
text by: Charlotte