Protection against Discrimination

The prohibition of discrimination is legally anchored in various regulations (at international level, e.g. in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in European law, e.g. in the EU Treaty, at the national level, e.g. in the Basic Law and the General Equal Treatment Act, and at the level of state law, e.g. in the Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria). Nevertheless, in our society, individuals or entire groups are disadvantaged and excluded because they are unjustifiably attributed certain affiliations and characteristics.

Fugitives are discriminated against in many aspects by the asylum policy framework and experience discrimination and restrictions in their rights at various levels. ANKER centres exacerbate these grievances. The UN Committee against Torture criticises the ANKER centres for their geographical and spatial remoteness and poor access to medical assistance.

This structural discrimination has direct consequences for the residents: For example, they can only participate in society to a limited extent, are often denied the possibility of independent counselling and access to medical care is often much more problematic than with other groups in our society. Article 3 (1) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG) stipulates that all people are equal before the law. In legal terms, this means that unequal treatment by the state must be reduced to an “objectively necessary level”. Although the restriction here can be traced back to the asylum-law norms, it nevertheless constitutes a serious discriminatory practice which makes life considerably more difficult for the residents of the ANKER centres and which makes them more socially disadvantaged and isolated.

Comments are closed.