By Sebastian Grauvogl
Hausham – He would like to travel, but can not: Asif Mehmood Jutt, asylum seeker, would like to attend a religious meeting in Karlsruhe, but the District Office provides him no permission.
Asif Mehmood Jutt must not leave asylum seekers as Upper Bavaria.
Asif Mehmood Jutt has experienced terrible things in his native Pakistan. He was ostracized, persecuted and threatened. Not because he had committed a crime. Jutt wanted to pray. But because the 23-year-old is a Ahmadiyya Muslim, he was not allowed to live his faith in Pakistan. The other Muslims rejected his religion. “It was like being in prison,” Jutt told in good English.
Since September, the 23-year-old lives now as an asylum seeker in Hausham. His relatives and friends he has not been seen since. Many have also left their homes and are staying in different parts of Germany. But simply can not visit each other. Asylum seekers as Jutt have a so-called residence obligation. Without an exemption, they may only move within a certain range. For the refugees in Miesbach this is the district of Upper Bavaria. And it is this control is a big problem for Jutt.
From 13 to 15 June his faith community organized for the 39th time its annual meeting in Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center. 26 000 (30’000+) believers from all over the world are expected. This Jutt – at his own expense – must travel to Karlsruhe, but he needs a permit from the district office. But the immigration authorities would not issue him this. Even an official letter from his faith community have Jutt submitted to the clerks – without success. The young Pakistanis do not understand the world anymore, “I thought, I am now in a free country,” he says in frustration. Instead, he feels also like a prison here.
Gerhard Brandl, Deputy Spokesman at the District Office, confirmed the attitude of Miesbacher foreigners authority: “It is true that we drive here in the district a more restrictive line.” But this was so legally in order. A mandatory exemption for religious events is not provided in the Asylum Procedure Act. “Ultimately, this is always an individual decision by the authorities,” says Brandl. Only if an urgent public or private interest, no decision a “vacation leave” be granted. Examples would be about a court date or a death in the family circle.
One explanation that can Jutt difficult to accept. Many asylum seekers from other circles of friends are likely to arrive at the meeting, he says. “Some even stay two weeks.” But for him is in the district of Eichstätt – the northern boundary of Upper Bavaria – Final. Even if it Jutt in Hausham better off than in his home country – he does not feel really free
Editor’s note: Please excuse the grammar, Google Translate being used.
These poor German bureaucrats cannot even remotely understand how important the attendance at the Jalsa is for a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.