Franziska Grillmeier: The Island. A Report on the State of Emergency on the Fringes of Europe.

Franziska Grillmeier: The Island. A Report on the State of Emergency on the Fringes of Europe.

Book premiere

Journalist Franziska Grillmeier moved to the Greek island of Lesvos in 2018, where Europe's largest refugee camp was temporarily located. In her book, she takes a look at what is happening between the headlines, delves deep into the reality of the lives of the people who fled and shows how they have to face renewed traumatisation after arriving in Europe. Grillmeier moves around Moria, the port city, in the north of the island and travels to other European border places where the system of exclusion works in a similar way. The focus of the book is on the refugees, who have their say in many interviews and whose lives are told. The author shows what camp life can do to a person - and at the same time reflects on how island life affects them: While Grillmeier, as an observer, is free to come and go, the narrative of open Europe ends there for the refugees. The criminalisation of humanitarian aid, the dismantling of press freedom, the overburdening of the island's inhabitants and the cynicism of politics in Brussels and Athens also play a central role. Thus, through her quiet yet haunting encounters, Grillmeier paints a harrowing picture of human rights violations on the fringes of the European Union.

Welcome Dr. Andreas Kossert, Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, Berlin Book premiere with reading and discussion Franziska Grillmeier, author and freelance journalist, Lesvos and Munich Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Angelika Nußberger, Professor of Constitutional Law, International Law and Comparative Law, University of Cologne Moderation Natascha Freundel, rbbKultur, Berlin You are invited to a small reception afterwards. Free admission.

An event in cooperation with the publishing house C.H.Beck and rbbKultur. Livestream of the event via the YouTube channel of the Documentation Centre.