1985 René van Royen (UNHCR) and Dr. Jürgen Micksch (Evangelische Akademie Tutzing) are preparing an organization which will represent the rights of the politically, ethnically or religiously persecuted.
1986 The Arbeitsgemeinschaft ('Working Group') PRO ASYL is established in Frankfurt/Main. Among the founders are Herbert Becher (Kommissariat der Deutschen Bischöfe), Günter Burkhardt, Bernhard Döweling (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz), Wolfgang Grenz (Amnesty International), Heiko Kauffmann (Terre des Hommes), Gustav Koch (UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe), Herbert Leuninger, Fetsum Mehari, Sigi Müller (IG Metall), Christine Nawrath (Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband), Victor Pfaff, Jürgen Quandt, Robin Schneider (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker) and Wolfgang Schuth (Arbeiterwohlfahrt).
1987 For the first time the Tag des Flüchtlings ('Refugee's Day') is held, events being organized all over Germany. So-called Refugee's Councils are taking up work in most parts of Germany with PRO ASYL networking their activities.
1988 To secure independent funding, the Förderverein PRO ASYL ('Friends of Pro Asyl) is established.
1989 While the German asylum law (Art. 16 GG) is being hollowed out further, the Federal Constitutional Court stops this process in an important place. It decides that refugees who have been tortured or arrested by governmental institutions in their home country, may be acknowledged as politically persecuted, contrary to the restrictive practices of German authorities.
1990 PRO ASYL establishes itself as an organization. The office is in Frankurt/Main.
1991 The public debate on asylum gets more and more heated. PRO ASYL urges those politically in charge to keep away from cheap rightist and xenophobic propaganda and warns about possible aftereffects.
A medal in commemoration of Wilhelm Leuschner is awarded by the government of Hesse to Herbert Leuninger, spokesman of PRO ASYL.
1992-1993 Rightist violence is flaring (17 dead and 452 injured from January to November) and culminating in xenophobic riots (Rostock 1992, July 22nd - Aug. 25th) and arsons (Mölln 1992, Nov. 23rd; Solingen 1993, May 29th). PRO ASYL fights for the preservation of art. 16 GG, issuing juridical comments and taking part in parliamentary hearings. Concurrently a large public campaign with a lot of rallies and demonstrations is launched. On May 26th 1993 the German parliament approves the curtailing of the asylum law. PRO ASYL reacts by filing sample action, mandating expert opinions and documenting individual cases.
1994 The Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund and the Evangelische Kirche in Hessen together with PRO ASYL launch a campaign 'No to Xenophobia and Racism' which is supported by Ignatz Bubis and many more public figures. As the topic asylum can not be dealt with any longer in a national context only, Herbert Leuninger takes charge of European issues. Heiko Kauffmann becomes his successor as spokesman for PRO ASYL with Volker Maria Hügel his deputy.
1995 Frankfurt Airport turns into a focal point of the altercations over the new asylum law. More and more refugees are subject to the so-called "Flughafenverfahren", a rough-and-ready legal procedure carried out right at the airport. A stir is caused by the deportation of several men from Sudan. Although, in a review issued on July 19th, the German Foreign Office postulates that Sudan is a dictatorship practising torture, German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther has these seven young men flown back to their home country in an ad-hoc chartered plane.
1996-1997 More and more refugees are denied protection, justified in a sweeping manner "Request for asylum obviously baseless". Among those refused are people who have suffered the worst. PRO ASYL mounts a campaign to attract attention to the most outrageous cases. The Federal Constitutional Court mandates that refugees subject to the Flughafenverfahren are entitled to legal counseling. As the implementation of this decision is delayed consciously by the Ministry of the Interior, PRO ASYL is funding for several months a legal representation for every asylum seeker, until the Ministry meets its legal demands. Together the Deutsche Frauenrat ('German Women's Council') and PRO ASYL are mounting a campaign to protect persecuted women ("Verfolgte Frauen schützen"). A few years later, this campaign has achieved its goal: Gender-related persecution is taken into account in the legal proceedings of the asylum law.
1998 PRO ASYL is awarded the Bonhoeffer prize and, awarded by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen the first time at all, a prize for overcoming xenophobia, racism and violence. Cooperating broadly with other organizations, PRO ASYL devises 'Minimal Requirements for a New Asylum Law'.
1999 PRO ASYL is committed to giving a permanent prospect at last to refugees who have been in Germany for a long time. After straight military operations have ended, it is refugees having fled from the war in Bosnia and Kosovo that are particularly threatened by deportations. So-called non-governmental persecution comes to the public eye again. It still isn't acknowledged as a legitimate reason to be granted asylum although the Geneva Convention on Refugees says otherwise. A few years on non-governmental persecution is recognized as a legitimate reason for asylum.
2000 The German Ministers of the Interior decide upon granting 15.000 refugees from Bosnia permanent sojourn: A first success of PRO ASYL's commitment to these war refugees. A new conflict arises: The German parliament decrees that children should not be submitted to the Flughafenverfahren. Otto Schily, Minister of the Interior, refuses to implement this decision, thus consciously acting against the UN Declaration of Rights of the Child.
2001 Even the horrible fate of a youth from Sri Lanka who hangs himself on December 6th, 2000 while in custody pending deportation does not alter Otto Schily's attitude. PRO ASYL launches a campaign 'All Children Have Rights' to render the Declaration of Rights of the Child valid in Germany without restrictions at last. Therefore is is awarded the Blue Elephant by the Deutsche Kinderschutzbund ('German League for the Protection of the Child'). Spokesman Heiko Kauffmann receives the Aachener Friedenspreis. The German government presents its first draft of the new immigration law. As the draft disregards gender-specific and non-govermental persecution, PRO ASYL and other NGO's are lobbying for modifications.
2002 The Federal Constitutional Court stops the introduction of the deficiently composed immigration law. A discussion starts which focusses upon the necessity of a common European asylum law. Here as well Germany advocates restrictive politics. 'Those who have been living here for a long time, must be allowed to stay', is PRO ASYL's motto of the year. The campaign is bound to ensure that the immigration law comprises the right to stay for refugees living in Germany since long. For the first time PRO ASYL is co-editor of the yearly Report on Basic Rights. STIFTUNG ('Foundation') PRO ASYL is set up.
2003 PRO ASYL is fighting for the rights of refugees from Iraq. While German authorities are still regarding northern Iraq as a safe domestic harbour from the war, several hundreds of thousands of people are on the run. Concurrently the quota of approval for refugees from Iraq decreases dramatically. The discussions on immigration law and right to stay persevere. The legal status of refugees living in Germany for a long time remains uncertain. Often they are deported on short notice, an unbearable lot especially for children and youths to whom Germany has become their home. Pro Asyl's campaign 'Here to Stay!' is seconded by many celebrities and meets broad public support.
2004 More than 90% of the refugees all over the world are living in camps without any prospect. Germany (as well as all of Western Europe) is accepting less and less refugees. With a total of 35.607 the number of asylum requests is the lowest since 1984. From January to November only 896 (1,5%) of these people are granted asylum, 1.014 (1,8%) are acknowledged as refugees according to the Geneva Convention on Refugees. At the same time the number of Widerrufsverfahren ('revocation appeals') against refugees already acknowledged increases dramatically. The notifications of revocation are mostly identical, obviously text modules are used. PRO ASYL demands urgently that every single case is thoroughly scrutinized. Otto Schily, German Interior Minister, proposes European-controlled refugee camps in Northern Africa. PRO ASYL organizes political resistance, using as slogan 'Europe is sealing up'.
2005 13 Jahre after the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted, the rights of children refugees are still far from being universally acknowledged in Germany. GRIPS Theater, GEW Berlin, the Refugee's Council Berlin and PRO ASYL together are mounting a campaign on behalf of these children living in Germany.
