Spoštovani predstavniki medijev,
Danes bi vas radi opozorili na zaskrbljujoče dogodke, s katerimi se naše skupnosti soočajo v zadnjih tednih. Medtem ko se celotna država osredotoča na prihajajoče volitve, si mi, tuji delavci, študenti in prosilci za azil, zastavljamo veliko bolj neposredno vprašanje: kako se varno vrniti v naše domove, ne da bi bili napadeni?
Le nekaj sto metrov od te točke, na Bavarskem dvoru, je indijskega študenta brutalno pretepla skupina zamaskiranih moških, medtem ko je čakal na avtobus. Napadli so ga od zadaj, ga brcnili na tla in ga nato udarjali, dokler ni bil njegov obraz popolnoma prekrit s krvjo. Napadalci so na svoji Instagram strani objavili fotografijo s prizorišča napada in komentirali: »Čestitke fantom«.
Kljub prijavi policiji se je le nekaj dni pozneje na glavni avtobusni postaji zgodil podoben napad, kjer sta afriškega delavca napadla dva zamaskirana moška, ki sta ga poškropila s solzivcem v obraz in pobegnila. Po naših informacijah je bil to že vsaj četrti tak napad na tujce na postaji v istem mesecu. Ko smo začeli raziskovati dogodke, smo ugotovili, da je več tujcev doživelo popolnoma enako situacijo. Zamaskirani moški prežijo na delavce in študente zvečer, ko se vračajo iz služb, počakajo, da jih ujamejo same, jih pretepejo in nato pobegnejo. Tovrstne strahopetne rasistične zlorabe se dogajajo že nekaj časa.
Naše vprašanje je, kako je mogoče, da se ti napadi še niso ustavili? Zakaj se nadaljujejo, čeprav napadalci javno objavljajo o njih? Kako se lahko še naprej dogajajo na zelo javnih mestih pred številnimi pričami? In kako se lahko nadaljujejo le nekaj metrov od policijske postaje ali na tako imenovanih “varnostno tveganih območjih”, ki so pod strogim policijskim nadzorom?
Del odgovora lahko dobimo s preučevanjem reakcij policije. Ugotovili smo, da se v mnogih primerih napadov ne jemlje resno. Včasih policija sploh ne sprejme izjave žrtev ali, še huje, žrtev obtoži “pretepanja” in ji napiše globo. Rasistični napadalci tako tako dobijo vzpodbudo, da nadaljujejo. In če se tujec brani pred napadalci, ti celo sami pokličejo policijo in se pritožijo nad “nasiljem migrantov”, saj vedo, da bo policija bolj nagnjena k temu, da verjame belcu. Iz naših izkušenj je razvidno, da ima policija resne težave z diskriminacijo in rasizmom v lastnih vrstah.
To ne more biti presenečenje – v zadnjem desetletju so bili policisti izrazito usmerjeni v to, da migrante vidijo kot varnostno grožnjo. Ko vidijo temnopolto osebo, najprej pomislijo na mejni nadzor, tihotapce ljudi ali teroriste. Vendar to nima veliko skupnega z realnostjo tisočev tujcev, ki živimo v Sloveniji. Tukaj smo kot delavci, študenti, prosilci za azil, družinski člani … In v veliki večini primerov smo migranti tisti, ki smo žrtve zlorab, izkoriščanja, trgovine z ljudmi ali rasizma. Vendar policija očitno ne premore učinkovitih metod za reševanje takšnih težav.
Namesto tega pa imajo veliko znanja o tem, kako deportirati ljudi, ki iščejo zaščito ali delo v Sloveniji. Šokantno se nam zdi, da ravno v času, ko smo tujci tarča rasističnih napadalcev, Ministrstvo za notranje zadeve izvaja deportacije družin, delavcev in ranljivih prosilcev za azil. Zdi se, da ne vedo, kako aretirati javno znane rasistične kriminalne tolpe, znajo pa sredi noči brez opozorila vdreti v sobo delavskega para in ju deportirati v drugo državo. Ne vedo, kako zaščititi delavcev pred nasiljem ali izkoriščanjem, znajo pa jih zapirati v deportacijski center, tudi ko to pomeni ignoriranje sodnih odločb. Ta absurd je še najbolj jasen v primeru zaposlenega prosilca za azil, ki je bil najprej žrtev rasističnega napada, kasneje pa ga je policija poskušala deportirati.
Vlado smo že opozorili na te situacije, zahtevali smo srečanje s pristojnim ministrom, zahtevali smo javno izjavo in ukrepe za odpravo diskriminacije policije, vendar resnih korakov še ni bilo. In noben funkcionar še ni javno obsodil napadalcev.
Zato je naša odgovornost, da o tem spregovorimo in sporočimo: rasistično nasilje nas ne bo ustrahovalo! Zavedamo se svoje vrednosti kot ljudje. Smo del slovenske družbe. Trdo delamo, prispevamo, plačujemo davke, študiramo, vzgajamo otroke, skrbimo za starejše in bolne. Pomagamo vzdrževati to državo in jo delati boljšo. Zato nas ne bodo ustrahovali strahopetci v maskah, ki niso delali niti dneva v življenju in svoj čas preživljajo s pitjem in pretepanjem. Podobno tudi ne bomo dopustili, da nas rasistična politika vladnih uradnikov, ki se počutijo svobodne pri zlorabi svoje moči, oropa naših pravic in dostojanstva.
Da bi pokazali svojo polno podporo žrtvam rasističnega nasilja, bomo v četrtek, 26. marca, ob 17. uri organizirali protirasistični shod. Po ljubljanskih ulicah se bomo sprehodili z jasnim sporočilom: nihče ne more biti varen, dokler varno ne živimo vsi. Podprimo en drugega in ustvarimo boljše okolje za vse.
Tukaj smo!
English***
Dear members of the press,
Today we would like to call to your attention the disturbing events that our communities have been dealing with in the past weeks. While the entire country is focusing on the upcoming elections, us foreign workers, students and asylum seekers are asking a much more immediate question: how will we make it home safely without getting attacked?
Only a couple hundred meters from this place, at Bavarski Dvor, an Indian student was brutally beaten by a group of masked men while waiting for his bus. They attacked him from behind, kicked him to the ground and proceded to punch and hit him until his face was completely covered in blood. The attackers posted a photo from the attack to their Instagram page, commenting: “congratulations to the guys”.
Despite reporting to the police, only a few days later, a similar attack happened at the main bus station, where an African worker was attacked by a couple of masked men who pepper-sprayed him in the face and ran away. According to reports, this was at least the fourth such attack on foreigners at the station within the same month. When we began researching the issue, we realized that a number of foreigners had experienced exactly the same situation. The masked men prey on workers and students in the evenings when they are returning from work, wait to catch them alone, beat them and run. This kind of cowardly racist abuse has been going on for some time.
Now our question is, how is it possible that these attacks are not being stopped? Why do they continue even though the attackers are making themselves known by publicly posting about them? Why can they continue happening in very public places in front of dozens of witnesses? And how can they continue happening only a few meters from the police station or in the so-called “security risk areas” which are under heavy police surveilence?
A part of the answer can be reached by examining the reactions of police. What we have learned is that in many cases, the attacks are not taken seriously at all. Sometimes the police will not even take a statement from the victims, or even worse, they will blame the victim for “fighting” and write them a fine. The racist attackers are therefore encouraged to continue, and in the event that a foreigner fights back, they even call the police themselves and cry about “migrant violence”, knowing that the police will be more inclined to believe the white person. It is evident from our experiences that the police force has serious issues with discrimmination and racism in its own ranks.
This can hardly be a surprise – in the past decade police officers have increasingly been trained to see migrants as a security threat. When they see a dark skinned person, their reaction is to think about border control, human smugglers or terrorists. But this has very little to do with the reality of the thousands of foreigners living in Slovenia. We are here as workers, students, asylum seekers, family members… And in the majority of cases, it is migrants who are victims of abuse, exploitation, human trafficking or racism. Yet the police have no effective methods of dealing with these issues. Instead, they have learned a great deal about how to deport people who are seeking protection or work in Slovenia.
We find it shocking that in the very period when foreigners are being targeted by racist attackers, the Ministry of interiour is carrying out deportations of families, workers and voulnerable asylum seekers. They don’t seem to know how to arrest publicly known racist criminal gangs, but they know how to break into a working couple’s room in the middle of the night without any warning, and deport them to another country. They don’t know how to protect workers from violence or exploitation, but they know how to lock them into the deportation centre, even if it means ignoring court decisions. This absurdity is made perfectly clear in the case of an employed asylum seeker, who was first a victim of a racist attack, and who the police later attempted to deport.
We have made calls to the government regarding these issues, we demanded to meet with the responsible minister, we demanded a public statment and steps to correct the discrimination of the police, yet no serious steps have been made. And not one official has publicly condemned the attackers.
Therefore we see it as our responsibility to speak out and let everybody know: we will not be intimmidated by racist violence! We know our worth as human beings. We are a part of the Slovenian society. We work hard, we contribute, we pay taxes, we study, we raise children, we take care of the elderly and sick. We help maintain this country and make it a better place. So we will not be bullied by some cowards in masks, who have not worked a day in their lives and spend their time drinking and fighting. Similarly we will also not be robbed of our rights and dignity by the racist policies of government officials, who feel free to abuse their power.
To show our full support for the victims of racist violence, we will organise an anti-racist rally on Thursday, March 26th at 5pm. We will walk the streets of Ljubljana with a clear message: nobody can be safe until everybody is living in safety. Let’s support each other and create a better environment for all.
Tukaj smo!
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