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Town Hides Family In Fight Against Deportation

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  • Town Hides Family In Fight Against Deportation

    TOWN HIDES FAMILY IN FIGHT AGAINST DEPORTATION
    Christian Gehrke

    Spiegel Online
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,779270,00.html
    Aug 10, 2011
    Germany

    German authorities recently ruled that a family of Armenian asylum
    seekers should be deported after 13 years of living in the country.

    But they never showed up to the airport. Residents of their town
    hid the family for almost two weeks until officials agreed to review
    their case.

    For almost two weeks, the Baveyan family had been missing. Rumor
    had it that residents in the Baltic Sea coast town of Kuhlungsborn,
    Germany, were concealing their whereabouts from police and immigration
    officials to prevent their deportation, though no one would say more.

    Their efforts, along with widespread protest, seem to have paid off --
    at least temporarily. The family emerged from hiding on Tuesday after
    officials agreed to extend their visas by four weeks pending review
    of their case in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

    "We are happy," mother Kristine Baveyan told regional daily Ostsee
    Zeitung. "But it's not over yet."

    The small victory came after a state commission narrowly ruled in
    February that, after 13 years in Germany, the family of four would
    have to be sent back to Armenia. Officials suspect that the family
    father, political asylum seeker Artur Baveyan, may have a criminal
    background, though they have not revealed any details. Artur, along
    with his wife Kristine and their two children, were subsequently
    scheduled for deportation this month. But the Baveyans didn't show up.

    In the meantime, around 200 of the some 7,000 residents of the town in
    the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania took to the streets
    to protest their deportation. The Baveyans are reportedly well-liked
    and have many friends in the seaside resort community. Artur owns
    a doner kebab shop, while Kristine helps elderly people with their
    day-to-day concerns. Both of their children, 12-year-old Geworg and
    nine-year-old Anne, were born in Germany and have grown up with the
    language and culture. The youngsters receive good grades in school
    and are members of local sports clubs.

    A group of protesters recently gathered in front of the Baveyans'
    doner kebab shop. Holding signs in the sunshine, Geworg's and Anne's
    schoolmates and teachers said they didn't want to see the children go.

    Members of local football club FSV Kuhlungsborn also turned out to
    express their unwillingness to part with youth team forward Geworg.

    'The Children Are Traumatized'

    Among the crowd were also Artur's work colleagues and pensioner Joachim
    Robrahn, who has known the family for six years. Kristine helps him
    with his household chores. "This is mainly about the children," he
    told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "If they were to be deported now, they would be
    foreigners in their own country. One can't just pack a bag and move
    away after 13 years."

    According to Robrahn, each family member would have been allowed to
    carry just 12 kilograms (about 26 pounds) of luggage on their journey
    -- forcing them to leave most of their belongings behind.

    One young man claiming to have close contact with the family while
    they were in hiding said they were fearful of their uncertain future.

    "They are afraid each time they hear a siren and are terrified,"
    he said. "The children are traumatized and the mother actually needs
    psychological treatment."

    One of the family's lawyers, Stefan Taschjian, has filed two cases with
    the Schwerin administrative court appealing the deportation decision,
    local daily Ostsee Zeitung reported earlier in the week.

    "I feel terrible for the children," state Interior Minister Lorenz
    Caffier told SPIEGEL ONLINE before the family came out of hiding. "But
    even I can't change this ruling."

    But the controversy gained so much attention in the region that
    state Governor Erwin Sellering stepped in. With state municipal and
    parliamentary elections coming up in September, he called for the
    commission to review the family's case once more.

    Kuhlungsborn Mayor Jeane Wohlschlegel agrees with taking such action.

    "Here on the Baltic Sea coast we don't have a lot of foreigners," she
    said. "But when it comes to deportation, it needs to be decided on a
    more individual basis in the future. This is about children who speak
    fluent German, get good grades and have a bright future in Germany."

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