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Media reported: Wolfsburger Nachrichten / WAZ

On Tuesday 6^th February, 2001 Mr. Sunny Omwenyeke; member of The VOICE Forum and The Caravan-for the rights of refugees and migrants, will stand trial in the "Amtsgericht" Wolfsburg for breaking the Pass Law in Germany, otherwise known as "Residenzpflicht". The trial scheduled for 9.30 am will take place in Hall F, at Rothenfelderstrasse 43, Wolfsburg.

This trial is a follow up to my refusal to pay the imposed fines for the police controls which I got in the course of the international refugee congress (April 20^th -1^st May, 2000) preparation meetings in Jena and the anti-Khatami demonstrations in Weimar, which I attended along with other members of The VOICE on July 12^th 2000.

It should be recalled that since I was posted to Wolfsburg in November, 1998 I had always sought the permission of the Foreigner's Office there before leaving the City for any reason. And in fairness to them, I got the first few permissions that I requested for. But on realising that I was very politically engaged through my membership of The VOICE and The Caravan, the authorities decided to restrict my participation in any political activities by denying me permission to ever leave Wolfsburg again. Their argument being that, as a refugee living in Wolfsburg, I am not allowed to participate in any political activity in Germany particularly as it relates to the welfare and situation of refugees. This according to them, amounts to fighting the government of this country which has been magnanimous enough to host me. Against this background, it was also no longer possible for me to even obtain permission to attend any meetings and activities on situations which borders on my home country, Nigeria.

On two separate occasions, I personally raised the issue with the Mayor, Ms Ingrid Ecke who promised to talk to the officers of the Foreigner's Office, but nothing was done. At different times, I had heated discussions with the head of the Foreigner's Office, Mr. Werner Pils who insisted that I will never be allowed to leave Wolfsburg.

Inspite of these, during the preparation meetings for the international refugee congress in Jena, I again asked for permission and was also refused. As Secretary to the Organising Committee, I had no alternative than to attend the preparatory meetings and it was on my return from one of such meetings that the Police entered the train between Magdeburg and Braunschweig and controlled me. During the preparations for the congress, I wrote many of the invitations for our international guests from other parts of Europe and beyond, including the one from Canada who got a visa with the invitation and attended the congress. Meanwhile, for the congress proper, I was also denied the permission to attend in spite of the support letter from Marie Louise Beck of the Ausländerbeauftragte in Berlin and my appeal to the court.

Like many other refugees who were also denied the permission to attend the international refugee congress, I resolved to engage in civil disobedience in defiance of this inhuman and humiliating law which is a gross violation of our human rights and a clear discrimination against refugees. Different actions have since taken place in this respect and some of us like Cornelius Yufanyi (another member of The VOICE) have been tried for this in the "Amtsgericht" in Worbis.

While hoping to be able to change the time of this hearing to enable people to attend, I call on all supporters and activists to turn up en masse for the hearing. Meanwhile, a rally is being planned outside the courthouse during and after the hearing.

Yours in Struggle,

Sunny Omwenyeke.