Thüringen

“Pietro Pinto, the SnapShots project coordinator, called me during EuropeAid’s DEAR application phase in summer 2016 to ask if Eine Welt Netzwerk Thüringen (One World Network Thuringia, EWNT) and the city of Jena wanted to join the project. We knew each other from another DEAR project, which dealt with other topics, and we accepted immediately,” says Tim Strähnz, Projektkoordinator & Fachpromotor Agenda 2030 in Thüringen for EWNT”.

“EWNT is Thuringia’s development policy network and the central actor for development policy topics and issues in the region. It was founded in 2005 and we currently have about 40 members who are involved in the work of One World in Thuringia as associations or as individuals or collective initiatives,” explains Tim.

“We are committed to global justice and global sustainable development. As a statewide network for development policy, we contribute to this in a public welfare-oriented way with educational, informational and networking work and see ourselves as an interface between civil society and politics. In this way, we strengthen the actors in the work of Thuringia One World, make civil society engagement visible, promote active social participation and raise awareness of development policy issues. Our network fosters the connection and cooperation of One World actors and other civil society and government institutions, strengthening their work with training and consulting services, and we are the first contact for people who are interested in global sustainable development work in Thuringia. With our educational and informational projects and the specialized library for development policy and global learning, the EWNT, our members and partners make an important contribution to raising people’s awareness of global issues and strengthening their skills to responsibly shape the globalized world.”

What was EWNT’s interest in the SnapShots project, what were the expectations? “For me, it was important to use the project to make people in Thuringia aware of the situation of refugees in their home countries, but even more so of the inhumane circumstances that accompany their flight. Above all, we wanted to address the lack of solidarity of many European countries in accepting people who are seeking refuge and protection or simply a life with a perspective for themselves and their families in the Global North,” Tim says.

“In my opinion, it is a big problem in European migration policy that countries on Europe’s borders are left alone when it comes to receiving and housing refugees and that people are suffering and even dying. In this way, we wanted to promote a greater understanding of flight and migration in our region and campaign for a greater willingness to welcome and house refugees in our communities.”

What were the moments in the project that helped realize the initial goals?

“For me, personally, the most emotional moment was when I saw our Grenzen-Gänger (Border Wanderer) exhibit for the first time. We compared the history of refugees from the former GDR with the current situation of refugees from Syria,” Tim says, “It was very impressive how similar the reasons for flight and people’s fates were. I want to add the visit to Lesbos before the Moria camp was razed to the ground. Seeing people’s suffering firsthand, and not on the evening news, was overwhelming and shameful.”

How could one tell about Jena, and Thuringia, when talking about solidarity, memory, networking among the territories of Europe?

“Talking about the region of Thuringia in general is very difficult. There are people in many parts of Thuringia who have shown solidarity with refugees to this day and have worked voluntarily or professionally to support and integrate them,” says Tim. “This has been especially true in the larger cities, but also in smaller rural areas and in regions along Germany’s former inner border, where the memory of the German division and the dangerous flight associated with it is still very much present. But it must also be admitted that there are many areas in Thuringia where people have a very hostile attitude toward migrants and refugees and where racist attacks are constantly occurring. The increase in votes for right-wing populist parties is also a sign in our region since 2015 and with it and with it the interest of many people in the world outside of Thuringia, and therefore also in the European Union, has decreased.”

How has a project like SnapShots managed to fit into this debate?

“I think we’ve been able to open up that window to the world a little bit again, and we’ve been able to focus more on the situation on the borders of the EU and work together with partners across Europe on an important topic like this. We were also able to support the work of partners in Thuringia who are fighting for rights, with participation and political articulation of migrants and refugees. In addition, with the help of Snapshots From The Borders, we were also able to raise awareness of the refugee situation during the Covid-19 pandemic through our global-corona.blog,” says Tim. “On the negative side, however, the connection between our German history of flight and migration with the current situation of refugees and their fate would have been very interesting to develop more. We were already able to take the first steps with our exhibition and related events in schools, but Covid-19 unfortunately put a spoke in the wheels. I really hope that we will be able to explore the topic in more depth in the future, perhaps with partners from former Iron Curtain countries in Europe.”