Dear Students,

More than a week ago, Russia attacked Ukraine. In the last week, we have talked and thought a lot about the war and tried to find out how we as student representatives can stand in solidarity and support those affected. The situation is difficult to grasp, dynamic in its development and historically grown. Therefore, we do not want to make a judgement with this statement. However, some points are important to us, on which we want to position ourselves.

As AStA we stand in solidarity with the people in Ukraine and all people affected by Putin's war of aggression.  We support the demands of the Ukrainians and the Ukrainian diaspora in Hamburg, their needs must be heard. We are fundamentally opposed to arms exports, yet it is currently necessary for Ukraine to be able to defend itself against Russia's attack. The fact that Olaf Scholz now wants to provide the Bundeswehr with 100 billion euros for rearmament is completely disproportionate. We take a clear stand against this rearmament. The war must end and must not be provoked further.

Even if Germany welcomes people seeking protection from Ukraine with open arms, this is by no means true for everyone. Black people and BiPoC , people without Ukrainian passports are pulled out of trains and actively prevented from fleeing. Instead of escaping the war, they experience massive racist violence at the border. A large number of the people experiencing this racism at the Ukrainian-Polish border are international students. To support these people directly we decided to follow the call of Asmaras World e.V. and financed one of three buses that picked up 171 people at the border and brought them to Hamburg. In the meantime, they have arrived here safely. However, not only racism, but also queer hostility is intensifying at the border with Poland. For example, trans people are not allowed to leave Ukraine or cannot do so safely. Disabled and chronically ill people cannot leave Ukraine either, should they need medical equipment, care or transportation.  As in all crises and wars, those who are already marginalized are hit hardest.

The war in Ukraine also has an impact on the social situation in Germany.Currently, anti-Slavism is becoming more socially acceptable again. Anti-Slavism is a form of racist discrimination directed against Slavs. They are insulted and experience hostilities. Putin's actions are projected onto them, but Putin is the perpetrator.  Russian students in Germany have taken a position on the war of aggression on Ukraine:
Statement of Russian students

At this point we also want to emphasize the absurdity of Putin's arguments. Among other things, Putin has legitimized his war of aggression by claiming that Ukraine is ruled by a Nazi regime and that the Russian military action serves to "denazify" the country. This claim is false, even if neo-Nazis are represented in the parliament, Ukraine does not have a Nazi government, but rather actually a Jewish president and is one of the countries where many Jewish people live. The Russian attack near the Babyn Yar memorial makes the claim completely absurd.

Apart from the war in Ukraine, there are many other things going on in the world that are completely ignored by the media. For example, Turkey is bombing Kurdish territory. The queer hostility, which in many areas of the world, such as in Texas or Florida takes on a worrying extent. The corona pandemic and conspiracy ideologies, as well as the new IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report showing that the climate crisis continues to worsen. These issues cannot be ignored! Every day people continue to drown in the Mediterranean fleeing war and persecution or they remain in refugee camps like Moria.  We strongly condemn the double standards that are evident here.

We demand:

• Psychological care for the refugees from the HAW and the Studierendenwerk.
• The Studierendenwerk must provide or arrange housing for refugee students.
• Unbureaucratic possibility for all students from Ukraine, regardless of their Ukrainian passport, to continue their studies at HAW.
• The establishment of language courses
• Financial relief for Ukrainian and Russian students at HAW who can no longer receive support from home due to the war, e.g. by waiving the semester fee
• Full solidarity with all refugees in the world. All Refugees Welcome!

 

What you can do:

Donate

• If you donate material, please ask the organizations what is needed.
• If you can't donate money or materials, you can also donate your time, for example by sorting the material donations or by picking up refugees from the train stations (if you have a car). You can also provide living quarters, these are best on a longer term basis.

 

Inform

If you can't donate, no problem, it already helps to talk about the issue in the environment and share reliable information. Check your sources so that you don't accidentally share false information. This war is also fought with information.

As a private individual you can support the following organizations:

Hanseatic Help https://www.hanseatic-help.org/

North German Ukrainian Help https://hilfe-ua.de/

Elinor Network https://elinor.network/gastfreundschaft-ukraine/

asmarasworld https://asmaras-world.de/

The site hamburg.de has some tips

https://www.hamburg.de/ukraine/15922988/unterstuetzung-gefluechtete/

We also share information on our Instagram account:
@astahawhh
https://instagram.com/astahawhh

Studierendenwerk Hamburg offers students to extend their contracts should they be affected by this war and unable to go home.