My name is Bino Byansi Byakuleka

„We must learn to see the stereotypes behind the term asylum seekers. The book is a good start for that.“ (Susanne Memarnia, taz)

Could you imagine to be a refugee and be treated like a criminal? Not like a human being? How would you like to be welcomed? With Patras Bwansi you can relive this experience. He describes growing up in Uganda with school beatings, tells us about the constant bureaucratic supervision in the German “initial reception facilities”, colloquial also called “Lager”, as well as his personal outbreak into the protest, calling for humanitarian rights. That this will come only with a political and social rethinking, Lydia Ziemke shows in her text, which is inspired by her artistic work with refugees. This double essay will completely change our thinking about immigrants.

Bino Byansi Byakuleka, formerly known as Patras Bwansi, born in 1979 in Kabale, Uganda is a Textile Artist who currently lives in Berlin. In August 2012 he started a protest tent in Passau Klostergarten and in October he joined the refugee protest camp in Berlin-Kreuzberg at Oranienplatz. Since then he is a full time political activist to change the asylum system in Germany and for LGBTIQ rights.

Lydia Ziemke, born 1978 in Potsdam, lives in Berlin. She studied Classics at the University of Edinburgh and was running the Gilded Balloon Studio Ensemble there for three years. Since 2006, after completing LAMDA’s one-year directing Pro-gramme, she divided her time between London and Berlin as a freelance director and dramaturg.