Germany: Cooperation between border policepolice andmilitias
01 March 1998
The mother of youth who had been arrested by a Bürgerwehr (militia) near the Polish border has brought charges against this group for illegal detention. Her case has revealed a secret cooperation between the German border police (BGS), the police and Bürgerwehren in Forst (Brandenburg) on the German-Polish border. At a public meeting in February, the representatives of the BGS and the police tried to deny the intensive cooperation with Bürgerwehren. Members of the Bürgerwehr confirmed the cooperation with concrete examples and were obviously disappointed that the BGS and police were not prepared to acknowledge publicly the cooperation and thus legitimise the activities of the Bürgerwehr. The vice mayor and other members of the local government were surprised to learn of the existence of the Bürgerwehr, and had even denied its existence in the local press.
On 22 January 1998, a group of youths cycling on the Neissendamm along the European cycle route was stopped and checked by some members of the local Bürgerwehr. Among the cyclists was a young Kenyan. The group was detained for about half an hour. The attempt by the mother of one of the cyclists to bring charges against the Bürgerwehr was dismissed by a police officer with the comment that if "foreigners" were among the group he could not imagine that charges for illegal detention would be successful.
The meeting in February revealed that Bürgerwehren have existed since 1991/92 and that the cooperation between these Bürgerwehren, the BGS and the police has existed at for least the last six years. There are several Bürgerwehren in Forst, officially known are the BWG 9 and the BWG 39. They are equipped with CB transmitters, handcuffs, strong torches and blank pistols, including tracer bullets. They often patrol the border area with dogs and in uniform so that they look very similar to police officers - "on purpose, so foreigners respect us" according to a member of the BWG 9. According to the detailed explanations of the representatives of the Bürgerwehr, cooperation with the BGS has been smooth. There is a division of labour, including instructions from the BGS and the police to the Bürgerwehren, such as ordering garden searches after the BGS "lost" migrants who crossed the border into Germany. During the last six years, the Bürgerwehren have handed over 18 stolen cars to the police, and recently 63 migrants to the BGS.
The head of the BGS post in Forst, Jan Christof Möller, denied that the BGS gave instructions to the Bürgerwehren but clearly expressed his sympathy for "self organisation". Since the activities of the Bürgerwehren became known, there have been propsoals to carry out training for members of the Bürgerwehren and to incorporate them into the concept of the so-called security partnerships of the Brandenburg Interior Ministry, part of the regional crime prevention plan. It appears that the cooperation between police, BGS and Bürgerwehr will continue and be given official legitimation.
Refugee Council Brandenburg, Forschungsgesellschaft Flucht und Migration Berlin, see also Statewatch, vol 8 no 1.