Building Bridges across Nations

On 25 and 26 May, AfricanTide organised an Ambassadors’ Conference on the Situation of African Refugees at the Lensing Carree Conference Center (LCC) as part of its annual celebration of African Union Day. Guests from politics, business, academia, African embassies, welfare organisations, and the African diaspora were invited to participate.

The conference focused on the situation of African refugees and addressed key issues through opening speeches, expert presentations, workshops, book presentations, and plenary reports. Central themes included social human rights, refugee protection, women’s rights, human rights as a guiding principle of policy, and possible solutions for Africa and Europe in response to the situation of displaced Africans.

The opening speech was delivered by City Director Jörg Stüdemann. Other speakers included Dr. Karamba Diaby, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD Parliamentary Group), who spoke on the educational needs of asylum seekers, and Prof. Dr. Jörg Bogumil, who addressed administrative action during the refugee crisis. Friedrich Fuß, District Mayor of Dortmund Innenstadt-West, presented the Dortmund model of refugee accommodation involving migrant organisations. Aminata Touré, personal advisor to Luise Amtsberg, refugee policy spokesperson for Alliance 90/The Greens in the Bundestag, spoke on women in flight and Black feminism in Germany. Dr. RosaLyn Dressman also introduced IPEC, a new branch of work within AfricanTide Union e.V.

A major highlight of the conference was the workshop programme, which brought together stakeholders to actively develop solution-oriented approaches.

Workshop 1 focused on the promotion of good governance in Africa and Germany as a means of addressing refugee-related challenges. It opened with an introductory presentation by Dr. Ümit Kosan, Managing Director of VMDO and a founding initiator of the NeMO umbrella network. The workshop was moderated by Dr. Joy Alemazung of Engagement Global and Dr. Kabanda Médard of the University of Osnabrück, who also served as overall conference moderator.

Workshop 2, entitled “Development through the Promotion of Alternative Educational Methods,” began with an introductory presentation by Dr. Norbert Tschirpke, Project Manager at Kreishandwerkerschaft Hellweg-Lippe. It was moderated by Dr. Eddy Bruno Esien, founder of Hiba, Linz (Austria), and Clément Klutse, from the Working Group of Self-Employed Migrants at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and board member of the CDU Barmbek.

The conference also featured two book presentations.
The first, “Europe: A Mission Misunderstood,” was presented by its author, Comrade Eddy Duru, member of the Foreigners’ Advisory Council of the City of Kassel and co-founder of the African Immigrant Integration Centre (AIIC) Kassel.
The second, “Promoting and Protecting Democracy,” by Dr. RosaLyn Dressman, was presented by Ambassador John C. Ejinaka, Consul General of the Nigerian Embassy in Frankfurt.

In total, 360 guests and stakeholders took part in the conference, with more than 200 participants on the first day alone. The strong attendance reflected the high level of interest in the issues discussed and the relevance of the conference as a platform for dialogue, policy reflection, and joint problem-solving.

Overall, the Ambassadors’ Conference made an important contribution to raising awareness of the situation of African refugees, strengthening exchange among relevant actors, and developing practical ideas for action in both African and European contexts. The conference outcomes were later made available on AfricanTide Union e.V.’s website and were accessed by numerous organisations, associations, and individuals.