Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.01.2017, Blaðsíða 14

Sema Erla Serdar, a Social Democrat
who has been very active on the sub-
ject of foreigners in Iceland, was dis-
traught by news reports that, at some
residence centres for asylum seekers
in Iceland, the people who live there
are missing basic household needs.
This includes things such as furni-
ture, clothing, kitchen utensils, lamps,
and books. Not content to wait for au-
thorities to take action, Sema decided
to take matters into her own hands.
We caught up with her to ask what her
next move is, and why the right wing
has hijacked the discussion on asylum
seekers.
What made you decide to take it
upon yourself to start collecting
furniture, books and the like
for asylum seekers? Isn't this
something the government is
supposed to provide?
To answer your second question first,
yes, this is something the institu-
tions working in this field, like the
Directorate of Immigration (UTL), are
supposed to provide. But to the first
question, I was reading the news one
evening in [Icelandic media outlet]
Stundin about the living conditions
of asylum seekers here in Reykjavík.
From what was reported and shown,
they're living in terrible conditions:
no tables and chairs, sitting on the
floor to eat, missing lamps, even cur-
tains for their windows. So I thought
to myself, "I would never accept liv-
ing like this. Why should anyone else,
regardless of their legal status in so-
ciety?" Well, I had four extra chairs,
so I took to Facebook and sent out an
emergency call to others to donate.
Plus, when we're talking about asylum
seekers and refugees, we're talking
about people who've lost everything
they have: their homes, their friends
and family, their country, and maybe
the only thing they have left is their
dignity. Who are we to take that away
from them?
The response to the Facebook post
was overwhelming, with people ready
to donate all kinds of household goods.
The only problem is, as you know, that
journalists and volunteers are forbid-
den from visiting these shelters.
So how did you get around that
rule?
Basically just by going there, and
breaking this rule. When I visited,
I thought, so this is why visits are
forbidden: if anyone would see how
they're living there, they would have
responded as I did. After seeing for
myself how they're living [at the asy-
lum seeker shelter on Skeggjagata], I
didn't sleep for three days and cried
more than I have probably in my entire
life. It was horrible. Basically, there
was nothing there. They had bunk
beds with sheets, but that was it. They
hung their clothes on nails, the cur-
tains had been removed, they didn't
even have any shelves; they were stack-
ing their dishes on the floor. Windows
were broken, appliances were broken,
there was one washing machine for 30
guys, and they used an old mattress as
a common "hangout area" in lieu of a
couch. I could go on.
The fact that you broke this rule
was pretty extensively covered.
Did UTL get in touch with you about
this?
Eventually, yes. I did manage to get in
touch with one woman who worked
there. They didn't seem to particularly
care that I broke this rule. After a few
days of work, we managed to make
Skeggjagata at least bearable. Myself
and a friend met with people from UTL
and the Red Cross about this, in a meet-
ing that lasted about two hours. While
they weren't exactly celebrating what
we did, they did acknowledge that this
is a good thing. They contended that
everyone who arrives to these shelters
is given a package containing dishes,
flatware, and other goods. That really
didn't seem like the case to me, unless
everyone was hiding all their plates
and glasses. I'm not saying that not
everyone is getting these packages;
but the things these packages contain
were definitely missing.
This is especially striking as this
is the same office that prohibits
asylum seekers from working. And
it's my understanding that they get
a weekly stipend of about 10,000
krónur per week; 8,000 of which is
specifically earmarked for food. So
they can't even buy this stuff if they
wanted to.
Exactly. These are things you need just
to survive in this country, but they're
only allowed to the Red Cross shop ev-
ery two months.
So on the one hand, asylum seekers
are prevented from working—even
though all the ones Grapevine
has spoken to very much want
to work—and are given a trifling
stipend, while on the other hand,
the institutions responsible for
their care aren't providing the
necessities they need to live.
Yes. And I should stress that the Red
Cross has been doing a lot of great
things. But it's true that the system is
broken, and is so slow to change, that
you start asking yourself, "How long
are we going to wait?" I can't wait any-
more. I just have to react. But while it's
great that there are volunteers ready
to step up, this is the work that these
institutions are supposed to be doing.
It'd be nice to be able to work with them,
in some cooperative effort, but to say it
politely, I'm not asking permission. We
will go anyway, because we can't accept
that people are living like this.
So what other reasons did UTL give
for these living conditions?
In a word: excuses. There's not enough
money, not enough staff, nobody
wants to work, and so on. While this
is understandable to an extent, we are
talking about the living conditions of
people. And this is before we even get
into how socially isolated they are:
how they can't have friends over, how
they can't work, how their swimming
cards were taken away and they have
trouble getting a bus card. They have
such poor access to information as
well. These are human beings we're
talking about.
This is why it bothers me when Ice-
landic politicians talk about "a state
of emergency" in the country when
we talk about asylum seekers. Propor-
tionately speaking, Iceland accepts
far fewer asylum seekers than other
Nordic countries. Have you seen con-
ditions in Aleppo? That's what a real
"state of emergency" looks like.
What will an NGO be able to do
that a volunteer organisation
cannot?
The reason why I wanted to make this
an NGO is because this isn't a job for
just one or two people. You need to be
able to assess conditions in the dif-
ferent shelters, make sure that every-
one gets what they need, and so forth.
People also are willing to donate more
than just things; they want to make
financial donations as well. Being an
NGO lets you do that, and also puts
you in a stronger position to be able to
push for changes. We also need a place
to store these donations; my apart-
ment is already full.
Maybe you can answer something
for me that our readers ask me
all the time: how can it be that, in
poll after poll, the vast majority
of Icelanders say they want more
refugees and more progressive
asylum seeker policies, and yet the
government seems to be moving in
the opposite direction?
I think it's a lack of will. You've seen
what's been happening here over the
past days and weeks. Where is the
Minister of the Interior in all this?
We can't find her. It's very frustrat-
ing. These are the people who could
change something, yet you hear al-
most nothing from members of Par-
liament or government ministers.
They are missing from this discus-
sion, and it's tragic.
As you point out, it's a loud minority
who oppose changing our asylum
seeker policy for the better, almost
entirely from the right wing. Do
you think centre-left or left-wing
politicians are afraid of committing
political suicide if they take up the
cause of the asylum seeker?
People on the right wing are very open
about their position on foreigners.
People like [Independence Party MP]
Ásmundur [Friðriksson] will tell you
we should turn them back at the air-
port. He has no problem saying this,
and his supporters stand strongly be-
hind him.
It's interesting that you say that,
because what I see is that the right
wing has monopolised the entire
discussion about asylum seekers,
and I keep holding my breath
waiting for a left-wing politician to
refute them, and it never happens,
despite a huge level of popular
support for a more progressive
asylum seeker policy.
To be fair, the left wing do have pro-
gressive policies regarding foreigners.
The Social Democrats [where Sema
hails from] submitted a proposal that
Iceland accept more refugees. But this
is just something online; it has abso-
lutely no effect on the discussion. We
who are actually working in this area...
Well, you know how it is. The reaction
is not always very pretty. I think that
maybe not everyone is ready to jump
into this pool because it means con-
stant harassment.
Even though the vast majority of
Icelanders will be on your side, it's
still a very loud minority that you'll
have to deal with then.
Yes. And I am afraid that this minor-
ity is getting bigger. New names and
faces keep coming up. And they will
use any chance they can to break you
down, push you out, and keep you from
working on these matters. If this is the
group that's getting upset and angry,
in my view, it means you must be do-
ing something right. I understand that
not everyone is ready to go in this di-
rection, because of this ugliness, but
at the same time, if you don't do any-
thing, then nothing is going to change.
If You Do Nothing,
Nothing Changes
An interview with Sema Erla Serdar
Words
PAUL
FONTAINE
Photo
SAMFYLKING
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01 — 2017
14