Manifesto

We are fed up.

Fed up with always being the second-class citizens, and with being called a Stadtbild-Problem.

Fed up with being the favourite talking points of local politicians who have no own experience of migration whatsoever. Fed up by being blamed for their own shortcomings, demonized, and divided into more and less desirable classes.

We come from various European countries and we all spend a lot of time, effort and financial means to build up a good life for ourselves and our families here in Germany. We met eachother over the years through our precarious jobs, political activism or work in the open sector. Today, we watch in horror how our past efforts turn to nothing, and our society becomes more and more fragmented, polarised, and hostile. This is no time for trying to be invisible at all costs; it is the time to raise our voices.

None of us has been born in Germany, but we all hold European Union passports and so are legally able to participate in the upcoming local elections. We want to use this position of privilege to set things in motion for the broader migrant community as well as for Berlin itself. We want to empower others and set an example of political activity from people who are clearly not expected, or allowed, to be politically active at all.

Our EU-Passports give us the right to a political representation on a local level, yet Berlins status as a city-state within Germany means that the district councils (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, BVV) are the highest level of politics we are legally allowed to participate in. We cannot vote for Abgeordnetenhaus, we cannot participate in any of the local referendums and we’re certainly not allowed to vote in federal elections. Because of that we seek election into the district councils of Neukölln, Mitte and Schöneberg, and intend on further battling those democratic deficiencies from there.

We see it as our mission to fight migrant-hate and battle the actors using it to divide our societies. We’re beginning our campaign in Berlin, our home and a city of big dreams and daring projects, but doing so we’re also thinking about the fates of other migrants in all corners of our continent – be it in Poland, Romania, Italy, France or Sweden.

Berlin is wonderful, but it is a mess. The established, local parties have repeatedly failed to fix any problems of the city. We, the Ausländer, have to step up, get to work and finally take responsibility for the place we love and call home. We have the ideas, and we also have the expertise and the experience.

Ausländer* rein!