Wenn die Begrüßungsreden verklingen + Zweierlei Asylrecht

Followed by a joint discussion with Kien Nghi Ha, Mareike Bernien and Merle Kröger

Wenn die Begrüßungsreden verklingen
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1979, 44 Min., OV with English subtitles

Zweierlei Asylrecht
Navina Sundaram, FRG 1979, 10 Min.

As the welcoming speeches fade away, the film begins with the arrival of a group of “boat people” in Frankfurt - refugees from Vietnam who are to find a new home in the Federal Republic. Navina Sundaram accompanies several families and groups in different stages of state-regulated integration: 3-step plans for “contingent refugees,” volunteer city tours with eager locals, German courses, housing programs and accompanying social work. The film takes a critical look at the treatment of migrants, who are “politically easy to market”: “Lovely anti-communist asylum seekers” is the sarcastic commentary on the people who politely and patiently endure the patronage of well-meaning citizens. The film ends impressively with the example of young Hoan and her search for identity between Vietnamese tradition and the German present, between loyalty and emancipation. Zweierlei Asylrecht is the first of four contributions by Navina Sundaram for the magazine Panorama which revolve around the topics of asylum law and racism in the Federal Republic. Amnesty International looks after “contingent refugees” of Kurdish origin from Iraq, who theoretically have the same status as refugees from Vietnam. For the Kurds, however, there are no welcoming speeches from the state; they are dependent on individual help and support. In the end, there is a plea for Article 16 of the Basic Law to apply equally to all refugees: Politically persecuted persons have the right of asylum.

Kien Nghi Ha, PhD in cultural and political studies, works on Asian German Studies, postcolonial criticism, racism and migration at the University of Tübingen. His monograph Unrein und vermischt. Postkoloniale Grenzgänge durch die Kulturgeschichte der Hybridität und der kolonialen “Rassenbastarde“ (2010) was awarded the Augsburg Science Prize for Intercultural Studies 2011. Numerous publications including Asiatische Deutsche Extended. Vietnamesische Diaspora and Beyond (ed., 2021).