Letter to Friends and Colleagues

Letter in Englisch.

"Lampedusa in Hamburg" and their professions - 

visiting their Hamburg colleagues.

Dear friends of "Lampedusa in Hamburg"!

Dear colleagues from ver.di (*)!

We need you! We need you and your solidarity with "Lampedusa in Hamburg" by participating in a photo project. The idea is to make the people of the group "Lampedusa in Hamburg" publicly visible in their professions. 

The war refugees from Libya want to display their identity as working people and they want to return to the time when they had jobs. They have been pointing out from the beginning that they had all been working in Libya when they had to flee the civil war and the NATO intervention. Because they could not go back home, they were forced to go to Europe - to Lampedusa in Italy. 

At that point they became refugees. After 2 years, the Italian authorities recognised them as refugees and gave them travel documents - and in some cases even money - and told them to leave Italy and seek work in another European country. That is what they did. 

The war refugees from Libya dispersed throughout Europe and 300 of them ended up in Hamburg. 

For almost a year, they and their supporters have been demanding that they be recognised as a group according to § 23 of the immigration laws and made it clear that they want to work and live here. They have already been recognised as refugees by the Italian authorities and do not want to waste their time undergoing the same procedure again. Instead, they want to provide for themselves and live in peace. 

We are demanding that people who have been granted residency for humanitarian reasons in one European country should have the right to work in any European country. People should be allowed free movement. 

Many of the "Lampedusa in Hamburg" have joined the union ver.di months ago. 

In Libya, they used to work in various different professions and trades and this projects aims to make these visible. 

We are looking for people in Hamburg with matching professions or trades who are willing to offer their workplace for a photo for this project as an example for the general public. The resulting exchange is as important as the photo. A group photo will be made as a `thank you´ for participating. 

Here is an opportunity to show practical solidarity, right in front of your doorstep. 

We are looking forward to hearing from you. 

"Lampedusa in Hamburg" Professions Group.
lih.professions(at)gmail.com

(*) Ver.di is the German public sector union.