BY INGE HINNEMO
LUBECK, Germany- "Refugees have to become citizens so that we can live together with the Germans as neighbors," said Gadji Bacar from the African Association here in eastern Germany. "I have a dream about children of Africans, Turks, and Germans living together under the same conditions."
Bacar was one of the speakers at a January 20 rally that wound up a march of 3,000 people in Lubeck. The demonstration took place in memory of the ten immigrants killed in a fire the night of January 18.
Another 50 people were injured in the blaze in the four- story building that was a home for asylum seekers. Four people are still missing.
At first the police arrested four German youths suspected of arson at the house. They were later released as they were said to have an alibi. The police then said that the fire may have been caused by an accident. On January 20 the police detained a person "of Lebanese origin" as a suspect.
In recent years several immigrants in Germany have been killed in arson attacks by fascists. The synagogue in Lubeck was firebombed in 1994. Since 1990 at least 30 people have been killed in firebombing attacks.
Many African immigrants coming from different parts of Germany joined the January 20 march to offer their solidarity to the victims, including Jean-Daniel Makudila from Zaire, who lost his wife and five children in the fire.
"For eight months they tried to get away from this house," Veronica from Zaire told the rally. "Now the whole family except the father have been killed."
The march was also a protest against the living conditions of refugees in Germany. The burnt building at Hafenstrasse 52 was one of ten such "homes for asylum seekers" in Lubeck, each housing between 20 and 86 refugees.
Under provisions of a 1993 law immigrants seeking asylum in this country have to be piled in such reception centers. Authorities claim they take two to three months to decide on asylum applications.
Makudila, however, came to Germany with his family seven years ago. His youngest children were born in Lubeck. A Lebanese family of nine people who all survived the fire have been living in such "homes" for six years.
Heikko Kaufman, spokesperson for the refugee support organization "Pro Asyl," told the Hamburger Abendblatt, that these concentration-camp-like centers pose great dangers because of "the great number of fires caused by electric defaults in these homes."
At a press conference after the rally Gadji Dacar stressed that the refugees demand the right to live in Germany without feeling threatened.
"We live in isolation," a 28-year-old man living in another home for asylum seekers told the Lubecker Nachrichten. "We are separated from society. If nothing is changed another house will be burnt."
Michael Boutellier, the social democratic mayor of Lubeck has stated that the homes of asylum-seekers should be closed down. He argued that the best protection of the refugees would be their integration among Germans.
Heide Simonis, the social democratic president of the state of Schleswig-Holstein has made similar statements. She also proposed granting the right to stay in Germany to refugees who have been living in the country for a long time.
"The state government and the mayor have promised to better the conditions of the refugees," said Veronica from Zaire at the January 20 rally. "But nothing's happened," she said, expressing the sentiments of many protesters. "Now the promises must end. Now something have to be done!"
The demonstration was called by a coalition including an association of African refugees and several antifascist organizations. Many of the speakers put the blame for the fire on the refugee policy of the government and called for people to join the struggle against the ultrarightist assaults.
Many people born in Germany saw the action as a chance to show their solidarity. "I want this to be a march of mourning," said young woman Marianne Kallberger. "This is a tragedy. It doesn't matter if it was arson or an accident."
The march stopped at the burnt-out house at Hafenstrasse where protesters observed three minutes of silence. The area in front of the house was covered with flowers, candles, messages of solidarity and children's drawings. Passers-by stopped in awe in front of the building.
After the three minutes of silence ended, an African man called out, "It's all a lie!" referring to the cops' claims that the fire was probably not set by arsonists. A lively discussion started among some of the participants about why the police version should not be trusted.
On January 19, another march of 1,500 students took place against xenophobia. It was organized by three high school students, 16 and 17 years old, calling around to all schools on that Friday morning.
According to the Lubecker Nachrichten, Rajko Marjanovic, one of the student organizers, told the student rally that all refugees must have the right to stay in Germany "because no one leaves their homeland for pleasure."
Among the demonstrators were fellow students of the children killed in the fire.
Inge Hinnemo is a member of the Metal workers' union in Stockholm, Sweden. Peter Hemgren, a member of the Metal workers union in Malmo, Sweden, contributed to this article.