Pro Asyl

PRO ASYL is Germany's largest pro immigration advocacy organization. Founded in 1986 by protestant pastor Jürgen Micksch, Catholic priest Herbert Leuninger and others, the organization has over 18.000 members and an annual budget of more than €3,400,000 (as of 2014). It supports asylum in Germany, in Europe and worldwide.[1]

Pro Asyl
Formation1986 (1986)
Founder
TypeNon-profit NGO
HeadquartersFrankfurt, Germany
ServicesProtecting human rights
FieldsLobbying, research, consultancy.
Membership (2014)
18.030[1]
Secretary General
Andreas Lipsch
European representative
Karl Kopp
AffiliationsEuropean Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
Budget (2014)
€3,420,879.59[1]
Websitewww.proasyl.de

Working fields

Pro Asyl helps refugees individually in situations in which they need support, including legal consulting and representation in the court, if necessary all the way up to Germany's Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights.

The organization also does political lobbying for the rights of refugees by launching campaigns and taking part in panel and TV discussions. Politically, they strive for "a humane society, open towards foreigners."[2]

In 2004, Pro Asyl and partner organizations from seven Central European countries founded the European Refugee Fund-funded Information and Cooperation Forum (ICF), where Pro Asyl is Lead Agency for Medical Care and Therapy. The organization is a member of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and closely cooperates with the UNHCR and other international human rights organizations. With their pan-European network of correspondents, Pro Asyl conducts analysis and surveys about refugees' situation both in their countries of origin and on their escape routes and intermediate stopovers.[3]

Positions

On the Residenzpflicht

In the past, Pro Asyl has waged nationwide campaigns against a legal requirement for refugee status applicants and those with a deportation deferment, the so-called Residenzpflicht, requiring them not to leave their local office's district often for years, until in January 2015 it was limited to the first three months, and often altogether abolished.

On "safe origin countries"

The organization has always criticized the steady expansion of the government-designated list of "safe origin countries" as institutionalized discrimination, as it deprives citizens of more and more non-EU countries, including Kosovo, Senegal and Ghana, of their right to receive an individual evaluation of their individual protective rights.[4] During the 2015 European migrant crisis Pro Asyl representative Marei Pelzer criticised the coalition member CSU party of diffusing "cheap propaganda at the expense of the refugees," that was "designed to put the wind in the sails of far-right populists," thereby contributing to the social climate that led to numerous xenophobic attacks on refugees and their shelters.[5]

Awards

The organization received a number of awards of national relevance, including the Bonhoeffer-Prize 1998, the Aachener Friedenspreis 2001, and the Theodor-Heuss-Medal 2008.[6]

References
  1. Pro Asyl (2015). "Tätigkeitsbericht 2014/15" [Annual Report 2014/15] (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. Pro Asyl. "Friends of Pro Asyl". Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. Pro Asyl. "Cooperation". Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  4. Katie Engelhart (15 September 2015). "While Welcoming Some Refugees, Germany Is Also Expelling Migrants Back to the Balkans". VICE. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  5. Ben Knight (21 July 2015). "Bavaria under fire for Balkan migrant 'deportation camp' plans". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  6. Pro Asyl. "Auszeichnungen für PRO ASYL" (in German). Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
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