- Photo exhibition portrays nine individual fates to represent refugees everywhere
- Christian P. Illek: "We want our aid measures to support as many opportunities for making contact and understanding as possible"
- Photo series exhibited at Deutsche Telekom Headquarters through November 11, 2016
Personal interchange is a basic prerequisite for integration. Ranga Yogeshwar and Deutsche Telekom share this conviction. Against this backdrop, the famous German science journalist developed the photo exhibition "Nine Lives," which he opened yesterday evening, together with Christian P. Illek, Chief Human Resources Officer at Deutsche Telekom, before some 200 invited guests at Deutsche Telekom's headquarters in Bonn. "Nine Lives" expressively portrays nine individual fates to represent refugees everywhere. The photo series can be seen daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through November 11, except on weekends.
During the opening ceremony for the exhibition, Ranga Yogeshwar and Christian P. Illek discussed how integration can succeed, together with the attendees. "Over a million refugees have arrived in Germany since last summer, hoping to find aid and protection," said Ranga Yogeshwar. "All too often, the individual fates disappear behind abstract, anonymous numbers, statistics and graph curves, and are no longer acknowledged. But without awareness of these personal fates, it is difficult to generate willingness for direct interaction."
Christian P. Illek gave the initiative an especially warm welcome, given that Deutsche Telekom is an active, long-term provider of refugee aid. "We hope that our aid measures offer as many opportunities for making contact as possible, to support mutual understanding between people. That's why "Nine Lives" is an ideal match with our commitment. It is about people, about their fates among the so many who have fled to Germany in recent years. Integration succeeds first and foremost in each individual's personal environment, through mutual understanding."
"Nine Lives" aims to promote this awareness. The exhibition shows nine portraits of refugees who left their homes for a wide variety of reasons, to pursue their dream for a better future in Germany. "Nine Lives" draws attention to individual fates, giving refugees like Mory from Guinea a face and an identity. Ranga Yogeshwar: "The idea arose through numerous conversations with people who had fled their homelands. They underscored the unbelievable fears and hardships that every individual has suffered, but also gave me hope that we could live together positively."
Everyone agreed that integration is a marathon event, not a sprint. With a view to the upcoming challenges, Christian P. Illek emphasized: "While a year ago, we were worried about providing as much assistance as quickly as possible, we now have to develop long-term solutions to enable lasting integration among the refugees." From the company perspective, Deutsche Telekom is focusing primarily on inclusion in the labor market. "The greatest obstacle we currently face is that the status of some 500,000 refugees has not been clarified yet. Until a decision to recognize them as refugees has been made, applicants cannot be offered employment contracts. I would like to see closer cooperation between business and politics here. We expect that starting next year, we will have to integrate a large number of people into the labor market who are still awaiting recognition of their status."
Deutsche Telekom initiated its aid measures for refugees in September 2015, appointing a task force to manage it. "We wanted to provide quick assistance and were thrilled by the enormous readiness to help among our employees, whom we have since been supporting with their volunteer work," remembers Christian P. Illek. The company also equips refugee reception centers with free Wi-Fi, provides properties to government agencies, assigns employees to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and offers apprenticeships, internships and university scholarships to immigrants. The information portal for refugees and immigrants initiated by Deutsche Telekom, under the URL refugees.telekom.de, has become a much-watched platform for information and establishing contact.
The "Nine Lives" photo exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from October 27 to November 11 (except weekends) at Deutsche Telekom's headquarters. It features portraits of: Abelie from Eritrea, Ana from Albania, Bashar from Syria, Fationa and Sofi from Albania, Lassana from Guinea, Latefat from Serbia, Lubna from Syria, Mory from Guinea and Yassin and Taha from Syria.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for businesses and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom has a presence in more than 50 countries and employs about 225,200 people worldwide. The Group generated revenues of 69.2 billion euros in the 2015 financial year – around 64 percent of it outside Germany.