01 Jun [EN] Demonstration in front of the Embassy of Mali, Berlin January 31, 2017 (English subs)

The demonstration in front of the Embassy of Mali in Berlin on January 31, 2017 was called by the group Djekafo from Halle and Afrique-Europe Interact. It confronted several policies: the embassy’s practice of signing travel certificates for deportation of Malians from Germany, a possible readmission agreement between Mali and the EU and the collaboration of the Malian government with the EU to close travel ways to Europe.  The demonstrators criticised the neocolonial relations and the coupling of migration control and development cooperation between the EU and Mali. They also denounced the deportation of Mahamadou Dramé and Amadou Ba to Mali on January 6,  2017 to Mali, handcuffed on a charter flight and physically badly abused by the German police. The ambassador Toumani Djimé Diallo came out to speak with the demonstrators and a ten person delegation entered the embassy. Diallo claimed sympathy with the protesters’ concerns but argued that he could not refuse to sign travel certificates for asylum seekers rejected by Germany. He admitted having signed the certificates for Dramé and Ba.