Q: “How long were you in that camp?” A: “I think I was in this camp for three months, because me, Gott sei Dank...my case is: when I came here, to this place. I can also be proud of myself that I am the one who started this because when I entered in Gottlieb, from the first day I was, everyday, march. I even hate a lot of German people, sorry to say this, because of the condition we are living in, every day, the amount of stress. We sleep with stress, because if you see the place I sleep, what I eat and the location we are. So everyday I go with stress, I wake up with stress. So only one day we met with Sonny, this was at Lagerhaus. Then, Sonny told us that he was here for more than 20 years. The only chance we have, is for us to come to the street and make this place visible, because it is invisible. Before 2018, this place was invisible. When we had this meeting, Sonny told me and motivated me to be the moderator in the camp and to motivate a lot of people. This is how I started this moderation, and we did our demonstrations. For me, my case and living in Gottlieb all came at the same time, because the group was formed within three months. I think we only did one or two demonstrations in the time I was in the camp and then my lawyer called me and said, ‘Tomorrow they are going to take you from Gottlieb [...] and you are going to a hotel.’ I could not believe it! I saw a taxi and then I moved. They took me this Heim and this brought confusion in the group, but in this part, not to talk about this. I came to the hotel and when I came to hotel, I had more energy, more power than before I was there. The group was formed. We are making meetings and demonstrations. I was at the camp every time and even security, some times, they didn't allow me to enter, because one day I came with a journalist from Oldenburg and we wanted to go to the Heim to take some pictures and also kind of empower the people to come out and speak out. So, the security said that we could not enter and they called the Betreuerinnen who were there. They all knew me, that before, I had lived there and they made sure I will not enter. So now I tell the boys, ‘I cannot enter but this is your combat. If see a visitor will come, you have to combine force, make a trouble so that everybody, boys and everybody, say “This is our visitor.”’ And if he is not allowed to take a picture, this is fine, but he has to come. So now they allow the visitors to come but they said that the visitor should not take any photos or whatsoever. So from this day, people from everywhere come and visit us, journalists and activists, people who help and sometimes take some people outside, to eat together, cook together, and do some sports. So, visitors are coming everyday. But, I spent only three months there.”

“So all along, we have just been struggling until TWAB (Together We Are Bremen). This TWAB, this is why I cannot really easily leave this TWAB. Even when my life gets better tomorrow, I still want to stand here and see how many people — because people still face this situation. That is why I encourage them: let's intensify this fight. I still want to be here and be able to help people that are coming, because I was in these shoes. So, TWAB people: we organize, they make pamphlets for us, they bring us — for a long time I could not buy clothes for my son, we could use the clothes they give to us from TWAB. They just arrange clothes package and then bring for us. So, through me, many other woman from TWAB started coming. So, from here we give them pampers, we give them clothes for the baby. That is how we are living. Until now, my son doesn't get Kindergeld.”

“We are just fighting for these transfers to stop and for documents. Because they kick a lot of people out of the system right now. It is a lot of people. And even TWAB is struggling for places for people to stay. It is like, they also have pressure.” Q: “Yeah, I hope it works out. What would happen if you get transferred, would you go to an isolated camp somewhere?” A: “It would be so frustrating for me. Because I am here in Bremen, I know a lot of people, I know places, I am playing football with the teams and I think I feel home, I feel safe here. I don't know  what I will find if I go to another state. Maybe those people are — their system and Bremen's system are not the same, maybe they have these rules and stuff, I don't know where I will be next. Maybe they will tell me that I have to go there. I decided that I don't want to go, I just want to stay here and try to fight, fight, fight.”

“For our clients it is a question — for many of them it is a question of life. Will you be deported, away from Europe or not? And even for this, for the minors, it's ‘hop or top.’ It's often not the question: ‘How big is the chance to win this case?’ but it is always ‘Just try everything.’ And not looking at the first moment really looking at the...I do it every time but we also take the case where we, in the first moment, see — I don't know if there is a chance, I don't see a chance but we try it. And sometimes we win, often not. But we just try; that's it. For me, that is the only way to handle this. And if you deal with cases where — I look at it and say ‘brrrrr’: cases with bad chances. Then, at the same hand, the authorities and the court also look at the case and see: bad chances, what do they want? And then you find struggles on the details and sometimes you win. But in the first moment, it is often a question: okay, start the procedure, start the case and nobody on the authority side want to talk with me and here when I say, ‘Maybe you have to look at that cases on this or that way,’ they are just: ‘No,’ ‘Reject,’ ‘No chance,’ ‘Go away.’ And then because of that, these cases are always, always a way of fighting.”

“Well, even after the interview, I went home and — I don't know my faith. I have a lot of things in my mind: how it's gonna end for me and then how things are going to be. Normally, because if they don't take you as underage, it is like you're standing for yourself and then you come here as a new stranger so the people who are there to help you and to guide you they just reject you and then they want you to be on your own, to fight for your own right while you don't know anything in this country what is going on. So, I was there, I'm kind of passing, which I don't only keep quiet and see the situation, I just make my research about the lawyers and all these things. They just reject me and before that, I only have a contact of a lawyer which helps me a lot immediately before I even leave from Bundes. I have already sent all my details to the lawyer. So, from there they took me to Lindenstraße. I was there for like 1–2 days and the lawyer sent me a form to fill and sign whereby he can go on with the procedures and be my lawyer. So that's the way, how I was lucky to have my lawyer and then I just try my chances.”

“...Yeah, I lived that life for like a couple of months and then there is, there was a organisation called TWAB: Together We Are Bremen. Yeah, someone — I started participating, although I was not feeling very very comfortable in the system, but I went and you know spoke with some of the, some of the participants and then, yeah, we talk about it and they took me in and then they started giving, offering us sleeping places and also some money.” Q: “Okay, like, this is like the TWAB housing system (A agrees) and at this point you don't have any social support, you are not in the system in Bremen. How long did you stay in this kind of system? How long was it for you?” A: “TWAB? It was also a long process for two and half years.” Q: “Two and half years, I think, that is a long long time that you live in Bremen. You don't have any document, you have basically nothing, no support from the state.”

“The place, I don't think someone should live there, because the camp is like, they don't have windows, the windows are not allowed to open, and you feel insecure. A lot of people, 5 people in this room. Like there will be 5 beds here and there is no window, there is no oxygen. And the security — they don't have a good attitude. They speak to you the way they want. You don't have privacy in your room too. They can open your room anytime, even when you are sleeping or you are not there. It is like a prison cell, that is what I am calling it. So it's totally hell in Lindenstraße. People used to be frustrated and do a lot of stuff. I don't think Lindenstraße is somewhere someone should live even one day. It is not different in a prison compared to Lindenstraße, especially in the Corona quarantine period.” Q: “How often did you have to quarantine, like there were really long quarantine periods? If anyone had Corona, you had to stay in, right?” A: “It was like, one-month quarantine in Lindenstraße. We have one month Quarantine. One month and you are not allowed to go out. Their food is not even healthy, it is not good for animal consumption. It is not good for human beings and they are giving those foods to people. It is bread and — don't know how to call it, I just ate this food, the time I came to Lindenstraße. But we just thank to this association Together We Are Bremen (TWAB), they provide a lot of stuff for us. We feel like we just enjoy the moment. It was difficult for us, but we just enjoyed the moment that we are living. Especially, because it was in Ramadan and Siaka and Suleyman helped us with cooking stuff and the shopping. We had everything that we wanted during the quarantine time. You just have to write what you want, and it will be delivered to you, so we just thank Together We Are Bremen for the support they have made. It was really grateful for us. We just spent one month quarantine in that camp, but if we did not have that help, I don't think it will be even one week. Because it was Ramadan, people fast like all day and they are not allowed to go out and buy stuff for themselves and you keep those people in one place. If it not for their help, the camp — I don't know, maybe we will not be here sitting and talking. I don't know what would have happened, because everyone will be frustrated and, I don't know, what could happen, we don't have any idea, because everybody would get angry. Thanks to them, everyone was calm, because you need to, at least — you don't have the freedom to go out, but at least you have something that you want, and you are having it. It like you pick up the phone and call them to tell them what you want, and they bring it for you. We enjoyed the moment and maintained the peace until the corona quarantine situation was finished and then everyone was transferred.”

“Yes, there were. I was like, ‘This is wrong.’ I met some people in my fourth floor who were members of Together We Are Bremen. I walked up to them, I am like, ‘Are you guys really comfortable with what is going on here?’ They are like, ‘No, nobody is comfortable. But what can we do?’ I was like, ‘If we just sit around, we can do nothing obviously, but something needs to be done.’ So I wrote a message to the Together We Are Bremen messenger group. I was like, ‘The situation in the camp here, it is horrible.’”

“...Stigmatization? What do you mean specifically?” Q: “Like being out of the system, do you get stigmatised, do you get weird feelings that people might be seeing things in another way?” A: “Not actually. Some people don't even know my situation, because I try to be okay with it and pretend that everything is fine. I try to be strong and to not let this system put me down. I have been through a lot, but I am still strong and still taking it. I am surviving through it. I am not letting it put me down. Even though it is a lot for me to take, but I have no other option but be strong and try to overcome everything that has been happening in my life.”

“So, the positive vibe that I keep always in me: I stay with friends, positive friends and when I go out, I try to mingle with people who are positive. You cannot drag someone who is negative in a positive place. You cannot drag him; you have to talk to him to understand and step-by-step you drag the person. I don't force people to talk to me or try to understand me. I just stay on my lane. If I am alone, I listen to music or motivational speech on my headphones and start listening. Music keeps me cool, for real. I always listen to music, always listen to positive music like hip-hop. I listen to Afrobeat, I listen to music generally. Music that has beat, slow motion, soul music, every music. Because I just want to know how people make music and reggae, dancehall and sometimes I listen to music which I feel comfortable, some warmth, magical: you feel the warmth. Some musicians, they sing like they are talking to you, directly to you. You feel it deep inside you. I feel music is so nice; it is so positive and sometimes, so emotional.”

Q: “Wow. Could learn a lot from you. You are stronger than the system. It does not get to your heart, that is good.” A: “The system is made by people, I don't think that it will stress me that much. People vote for it, they make the system. I don't think it will stress me more, because it is as good as people make it good. If it is wrong, it is human error. I think like that. It is temporary, it will change.” Q: “It will change, hopefully. Cool, wow, wow. Is there anything you think the world should know? Other teachings? (Q laughs)” A: “(A laughs) No, I think life is really amazing. It is really amazing for someone to blow the happy moment that you are having, for someone to keep you in this pressure, no. Even if you don't have money, you have to, you can be happy. I don't have money, nothing. I used to stay a whole day, I don't even have one euro, but I am still happy. I don't want to stay alone in the house, I went out to hang with friends. Even you have money, even when you are working, you cannot work all day and night. People say that you don't have to sleep, no. If you don't sleep. you die, because you need sleep, you understand? ‘Much work,’ you have to work, yes, that is true, but you don't have to chase more. If you chase more, you will end up finding yourself somewhere you don't want to be. Everything is about timing. You have to work. If you work, just hang out with friends, party with friends or go on a date, but you cannot constantly work. In the end of the day, you won't even have friends. You won't even appreciate the wind, because your focus is work, work, work. People say, ‘Work makes life balanced.’ For me, that doesn't make sense. Life should come before work. If your life is better, your work is perfect, you understand? A lot of people are having stress in the work, because they don't have — they are not happy in the work they are doing. They are stressed. That is wrong. You have to be happy in whatever you are doing. If you are wokring, you have to be happy in the work. If you are happy, you become smart. Your intelligence is getting up, but if you are stressed, you cannot think. You have to be happy all the time. This life is just one, don't waste it. No one should come and waste your life, especially the system. I don't think it can get me.”

“Every night before I sleep, I listen to motivational speech or sometimes I listen to Muslim preachers, mufti. I used to play it and listen to it and listen to, sometimes, motivational speech like that, because I cannot sleep without listening to something. It is very hard for me, I have to listen to something positive and go to sleep.” Q: “That is good, and I think the things that you give your energy to, will grow, and you give it positivity. I can learn from that.” A: “Even when you are stressed sometimes, you just have to go to the mirror and look at yourself.” Q: “You have to go what?” A: “To the mirror. ... Look in the mirror and tell yourself, ‘It will be cool.’” Q (jokingly): “I need you, like every day, you are like my motivational speech.” A: “I do that a lot. In our exam, I was having pressure. I went to the classroom where we have sprechen and lesen, then I took a pause, went to the mirror in the toilet and looked at myself. I smile and told myself, ‘I know I can do it, I have confidence. I can do it.’ I went back and write the Brief and do all the stuff. Sometimes, even in the morning I go to the mirror and look at myself, try to motivate myself. Because, I know what I am feeling right know, but it is not hurting me. I know it will pass. Someday I will see it and narrate this story. Or sometime, someday, I will see someone in that situation and try to motivate the person. I will tell the person, for example: ‘I was living in a hell situation, but right now I am cool.’ It is all about motivation. You have to keep going, no stop. Have to motivate yourself. No one is going to motivate you. If you see someone motivate you, the person sees that you are in stress but if you motivate yourself, the person will not see that you are in stress, because he knows you are in a positive vibe. Self-motivation is number one. Every morning you have to wake up and motivate yourself.”