Following the PANEL DISCUSSION "They just took my child away" held on March 23, 2023, an urgent and necessary discussion has come to light about the racist discrimination against immigrant mothers that has led to the loss of their children.
Therefore, we would like to share with you the article that Nina Winter wrote for the online and print newspaper ND after participating in the panel discussion.
Racist Inhumane Care: And suddenly the child is gone
Migrant, non-white mothers in Berlin complain about premature custody by racist youth welfare offices and courts
Nina Winter
Juliette (right) is fighting for her child. Two years ago, the Youth Welfare Office took her son to a children's home without her knowledge. Photo: Nina Winter
The store on Choriner Straße in Prenzlauer Berg is brightly lit. At an event last week titled "They just took my child away," the focus was on racist actions by the authorities when taking children into care. Although the Youth Welfare Office only takes children away from their families in the worst cases, mothers affected by racism repeatedly report that they are suddenly taken into care on flimsy grounds.
The small conference room in the basement fills up, all 30 chairs are occupied. The people who have moved up take their seats in the back on the open staircase; children play between the rows. Niki Drakos, a staff member of the Berlin Women's Circles, a feminist and intersectional initiative for counseling women, moderates and introduces the four invited panelists: Lawyer Asha Hedayati regularly represents mothers affected by custody, Kadiatou Diallo became aware of the topic in the course of her work as head of "Space2grow", a project of women's circles by and for refugee and migrant women. Lea Ulmer from the initiative "Refugee Rights Movement" from Karlsruhe accompanies affected persons, and Juliette also came from near Karlsruhe to tell about her fight against the taking into custody of her son.