Immigration and the Stasi Museum, Day 8

Today was the first day that we were able to sleep in a little bit (though breakfast was still at 7:30 am) since we didn’t have to be at Humboldt Universität for class until 10am. The group I traveled with to the University underestimated the travel time and we ended up being 15 minutes late. Fortunately we didn’t miss anything and we also weren’t the only ones to show up late. During class we had discussions about our perceptions of Berlin so far and also about what our thoughts on the different tours we had been on so far. It was nice to debrief a little bit and hear my peer’s perspectives on the things that we saw in the camps. After discussing for a while we were given a coffee break while Manuella went to pick up Rissa, who was our guest speaker for the day. Rissa is currently a refugee in Berlin, and today he shared with us his story and his knowledge of what it means to be a refugee. I never knew how convoluted the immigration laws were in European countries, but the laws make it nearly impossible for refugees to integrate into society or to become a citizen, which means that citizens of European countries view refugees as a burden even though there are laws in place that prevent refugees from working or receiving education. Even if a refugee managed to obtain a job that paid them under the table, they are the bottom of the hierarchy in German society to be hired. The refugee will only get a job if there is first no other German citizen, no other European citizen, or no asylum seeking German who is capable of doing that job. In addition, a refugee can only stay in a country for a short period of time before they have to leave that country. If a refugee is caught in a country without identification, they may be asked to leave within a few days or weeks, and will receive a fine if they are caught staying past their deadline. They will sometimes have to show proof that they have left that country by traveling to a foreign embassy in another country. All of this traveling costs money, and the fines for being caught without identification or proper travel tickets is very high, and if a refugee can’t afford to pay these things they are thrown into jail. The laws on immigration are very complicated, and once you are identified as a refugee it is difficult to have the title removed. It doesn’t seem like it is morally right to have so many laws that prevent a person from being able to even attempt to live a normal life, yet it is standard throughout Europe to treat refugees in this way.

Rissa’s story also included his perspective on life in Africa, since he was originally residing in Libya before he left. He talked about how in Libya you don’t have to pay for parking anywhere, everywhere is yours. Electricity and water is payed for and even the homeless and hungry are guaranteed two loaves of bread a day. In Africa he had the freedom to live a happy life where he didn’t have the restrictions that he faces in everyday life in the democratic European nations. He was astonished to see the propaganda to help African countries, which seem to all feature malnourished and impoverished indigenous African people. He did not see Africa in this way at all, and it was a strong reminder to be critical of the media and question the biases and motives of informational sources.

After a lunch break, we all met again outside our classroom building so that we could travel together to the Stasi Museum. The Stasi museum was a very interesting place and we were very fortunate to have a tour guide who actually grew up in East Germany during the time that the Stasi were still controlling East Germany. The kind of surveillance that went on in East Germany reminded me of the book 1984, or a movie. Telephone conversations were listened to, there were wires placed in homes, video cameras, cameras (including in grocery bags, ties, and watering cans) and more than 180,000 Stasi spies who were just ordinary people required to report any suspicious behavior to the Stasi. The spies could have been anyone, including teenage kids who were asked to watch their fellow teenage friends, teachers, and parents. Anything that wasn’t exactly as the East Berlin government expected was considered to be non-conformist and signs of a possible threat to the government. People could be put on a watch list because of their clothing choice, hair, the type of music they listened to, and really anything else that was not what the government wished its citizens to behave like. I can’t imagine growing up in a place where it wasn’t safe to express your feelings without worrying that you would be overheard and punished.

Once the tour was over, Mira, Reem, and I attempted to find the Marx statue in Marx allee, however no one seemed to know where it was located and we didn’t have internet or data access on our phones to look it up. We settle for traveling back to the hostel and looking up directions to find it another day. After dinner, and resting for a bit, a group of us went out for music trivia at the same bar that we went to the week before. Although the team I was on did not do as well, the other team from our group got third place this week! Definitely an improvement from the week before and we are excited to go back next week and try our luck again!