" I came from Nigeria" said the 28 years old Valentine Anthony, who looked 30 years older with an African English accent, when I asked where was he from, he holds a MA degree in mass communication, and was teaching in one of the Nigerian universities, but he had to come to Berlin 8 months ago as a refugee with no place to live in or a work to earn some money from.
I had two days left in Berlin, and a dear friend of mine told me about the refugees protest camp in Oraninplatz, so I couldn't just leave without paying them a visit, especially that I knew before that the biggest problem facing Germany and the European union as a whole is the problem of refugees and immigrants, as most of the European governments are skeptical about having them on their lands, even some of my friends there were mocking at the German decision to give asylum for only 5000 Syrians, while there are hundreds of thousands of Syrians facing death back in their ruined country.. So on the very cold 24th of November we went to the camp, many small tents around the square, and a big tent for information. Many young guys there waiting for donations or questions, they warmly welcomed us and started to give us bun-flits on their situation and struggle.
The camp which completed almost a year included 200 African refugees, and that morning the government has decided to give houses to only 80 of them leaving the rest in the cold square, while also some of the refugees wanted to keep the camp as a pressure on the government to improve their conditions. Most of the refugees in that camp came to Berlin through the Italian Lampedousa island which receives most of the refugees and immigrants coming from Africa in the death boats through the Mediterranean. Many of them sink in the sea, and a few of them, can't tell weather lucky or not, make it to the European shores. In the camp you could find many of the German supporters, and the camp also gets some support from some churches and the German green party, but it always seems not enough.
So, Valentine was one of the guys I met at the information tent, he offered to take us to see how he lives in his tiny tent which includes one small bed, one lamp, and a very small heating fan, there he started to tell us his story. The only thing he managed to bring from Nigeria is a small medal with a small statue for virgin Mary. Few years earlier Valentine wrote a book attacking Islamic extremism in Nigeria, especially the "buku haram" group who threaten and attack non Muslims there, the book was titled "the human being is one", he said, after that Valentine was threatened to get killed, especially as he is christian, his Muslim mother told him to leave, so he had to go to Libya, leaving his career to work there in a plastic factory. When the revolution erupted and then the war Valentine was forced to get into one of the death boats and leave Libya. The boat arrived Lampedousa, and there he took a refugee passport that allows him to move through the European union countries.and maybe this is a way to get rid of the refugees because the European union countries still consider such entries as illegal, but he managed to enter Germany and his long journey ended in Oranienplatz camp, Berlin.
At that moment we had to leave, but one hour later the news started to come, the police forces is trying to disperse the camp, and when a spontaneous protest erupted in solidarity with the camp, many of the protesters got arrested, but they did not retreat, until I left Berlin on the 26th, many German activists were protesting against the police to keep the camp.
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