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The International and Immigrant Student Board ("AusländerInnen"referat) is an autonomous department within the General Student Council (AStA). As such it is elected by the plenary meeting of the "foreign" students at the Free University of Berlin. Our task is the political representation and active support of non-German students. Our goals are fighting the open and institutional racism in university and society as well as cutting off the discrimination against immigrants and international students.

Institutional racism in the university system

Though the most urgent problems for international students are the restrictive rulings within the law of abidance and of work permit, university itself is not free from racism either.

The racist politics and legislation of the Federal Republic toward "foreigners" is mirrored in the control system over the study of international students, especially those from states outside the European Union (EU). The aggrevated conditions for being admitted, the intransparent and partly non-objective way your educational testimonies are checked, the questionable preparation of your study by the so-called "Studienkolleg" and the insufficient supply of language courses as well as the lack of competent counseling offered by the responsible university departments are only a few examples for that matter. Additionally, immigrants, black Germans and international students are affected by the openly or latently racist attitudes of their lecturers, fellow students and the university staff. The practise of blinding out the racist and eurocentric basis of science and the shortcoming of seminars that are concerned with immigrant studies and the research of racism are factors that add to the lacking sensibility of students with respect to the ubiquitous racism in society.

What we do

Besides other things, the International and Immigrant Student Board tries to make the conditions for international students to be admitted easier and more transparent. It puts itself out for an embracing reform of the study preparation and introduction phase. We demand that the quota of international students outside the European Union who are admitted to disciplines with restricted access be expanded and that stipends for students from developing countries be supplied. We strongly oppose tuition fees. We demand striking measures against lecturers and other staff who act or speak in a racist manner. We also fight against the recent criminalisation of foreign students by police and immigration authorities.

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last update: Jan 28, 2005 12:49 pm