In June, we at Civil Society Forum (CSF) launched the Berlin Hub for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), part of our wider #BerlinHub initiative.
We set up the Hub because human rights defenders are facing growing pressure, both in Europe and around the world. Transnational repression is on the rise: governments are reaching across borders to intimidate, monitor and silence their critics in exile. At the same time, stricter visa and migration rules make it harder for defenders to find safety, move freely and rebuild their lives. Many of the HRDs we work with struggle to continue their work in exile, even though their communities back home still rely on them.
With the Berlin Hub, we want to make Berlin a real home base for human rights defenders: a place where they are heard, protected and supported. We believe Berlin is well placed for this, thanks to its institutions, its civil society networks and its international community. The Hub brings together a growing community of defenders from many parts of the world. We connect them with each other, with local civil society and with decisionmakers. We also advocate for the practical conditions defenders need to keep working from Germany:
- access to work permits
- visas that allow mobility
- closer cooperation with government and local civil society
- lasting support for HRD networks
Exile Talks – Same Label, Different Treatment
At our latest edition of Exile Talks, hosted together with CORRECTIV.Exile on September 30, we explored what it really means to share the label “exile” when opportunities and barriers can depend so heavily on where someone comes from.
The discussion focused on how exiled journalists and human rights defenders navigate the German migration system, human rights organisations and the media. We also examined how inequality and structural racism shape access to visas, work permits, employment, institutional support and protection from transnational repression.
We were delighted to welcome:
- Prof. Hanan Badr, University of Salzburg
- Nazeeha Saeed, Bahraini journalist
- Roro S. Getu, Ethiopian human rights defender and 2024 Schuman EU Award recipient
What’s next
In October, members of our Berlin Hub community will meet parliamentarians in the Bundestag to talk about what human rights defenders in exile need to continue their work from Germany. Our team will also travel to the Netherlands to meet civil society organisations there and build connections across Europe.
Would you like to get involved with the Berlin Hub? We’d love to hear from you. Find out more here