We Thank You

In November we asked ourselves questions for which we had no answers. We knew these numbers from an EU research project: accordingly, hundreds of thousands live in Germany who are not allowed to be in the country – and millions in other European countries. These are people who only share their story with their closest friends. They live without valid documents, they have immigrated illegally or stayed when they were supposed to leave. No public authority knows about them anymore. For that reason we called them „The Invisibles“.

We asked ourselves: what rights do these people have? How do they get by? How do they earn money? Who are they really? Is it even possible to live in a country and not encounter the authorities? Or to need them? What do these people do when they get sick? Who helps them? Who are they afraid of? Or what? And why? Do they have a dream? Do they voluntarily live without documents? Is it the last chance they have? What do they need then?

We wanted to know all this.

And then we asked ourselves: do you too?

Crowdfunding successful

We didn’t know. Two months later we were nervous and hopeful, then it became clear: you want to know as well – and you are helping us find out.

You donated 4000 Euros to us after we published our questions for an investigation that we wanted to finance through the crowdfunding platform which we had just established at CORRECTIV. Target accomplished. Thanks to your help and your interest. It is not only money you have given us for our work, but also trust. And it is suggestions and indications, criticism and praise.

To the crowdfunders

Miriam Heising, Thomas Angeli, Denis Bartelt, Frank Ostrowski, Michael Rasenberger and Christian Schwägerl

we extend our express thanks from the heart. We also thank the numerous donors who have supported us anonymously. You have all made our initial investigation on the Invisibles possible. With its publication last week, this became our first investigation that you have financed through crowdfunding. Since December, almost all projects on CORRECTIV’s crowdfunding platform have achieved their target donations. The reporters on the projects have continued their work – and we look forward to the future publications which you will have made possible.

Support us with our investigation

The investigation on the Invisibles is far from over after this initial publication, and it is not only a crowdfunding project. It is also a crowdsourcing project. We want to reach as many of the hundreds of thousands of Invisibles in Germany and millions in Europe as we can. We want to understand their lives through their mass, not only as individual fates. We want to find structures, commonalities and differences.

We summed up our questions for the Invisibles in a questionnaire. First only in German, then in French and English, now also in Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Farsi, Serbo-Croatian and Turkish.

We will now bring this questionnaire to the invisibles, in the doctor’s and lawyer’s offices, to the churches, the refugee services, the trade unions – to all the places where people might have to do with Invisibles.

We seek to gather as many answers as possible to create a unique database. With thousands of answers from Invisibles we might identify problems that we couldn’t even imagine. We know that Invisibles often work in construction, nursing care and restaurants. But where else? Who exploits them? Might there be a sector that depends on the Invisibles as cheap labor? Thousands of answers will help us understand where these people came from, how they got here and why. Thousands of answers will also help us understand who these people are, what they can do and what they hope for.

You can help us by sharing our questionnaire. On Facebook, on Twitter, or just by telling others about it. Almost everyone knows someone. Even more people know someone who knows someone. Maybe you also know Invisibles – and don’t even realize it yet. Or you know someone who helps the Invisibles. I have experienced both things myself: two times people spoke to me after I first shared our questionnaire on Facebook. They were acquaintances from among hundreds of Facebook friends. I would have never thought they would help me with the investigation. After the conversations I had a better understanding of who is good to the Invisibles and who is bad to them, what a few of them are afraid of or what they dream about.

Let us work together to find out more through thousands, not only just a few.Beispieltext für diesen Blog-Post. Hier doppelklicken zum Ändern.

Update, June 4^th, 12:30 p.m.: We have now also translated the questionnaire into Italian and have added this to the list above.