About us

The fka – Freundeskreis Asyl Karlsruhe e. V. (fka) was founded in 1987 with the aim of facilitating the integration of people with a refugee or migration background in Germany and providing them with the right start-up support.

The cornerstones of our work are counselling, education and trauma work. Our portfolio includes

 

  • Social and procedural counselling at the Human Rights Centre in Karlsruhe and at the initial reception centre Durlacher Allee Karlsruhe. In addition, a mobile and outreach counselling structure is currently being established in southern Rhineland-Palatinate in connection with the fka office in the southern Palatinate in Germersheim.

 

  • Migration counselling for adult immigrants (MBE) Karlsruhe-Land in the MRZ, Karlsruhe and in Germersheim.

 

  • Initial orientation courses (EOK) at various locations (Karlsruhe city and district, Mannheim, Rhine-Neckar district, Baden-Baden, Rastatt). The courses teach basic knowledge of the German language and regional studies.

 

  • Trauma work – the atman Institute for Mental Health and Migration offers migrants counselling and access to therapeutic support for PTSD; the House of Hope in Dakar/Senegal offers returnees the opportunity to work through their traumatic flight experiences using Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). In a train-the-trainer programme, local counsellors are trained in the treatment method by an international team of experts.

 

  • a sewing café as a meeting space for migrants, refugees and Germans, as well as a sewing workshop as a professional production facility in Karlsruhe’s Südstadt.

 

  • the sponsorship programme “Menschen stärken Menschen” (People Strengthen People)

 

  • MiA courses – Migrant women simply strong in everyday life: low-threshold courses for migrant women to promote language skills (empowerment).

 

  • Regional events and campaigns (e.g. as part of the Karlsruhe Week against Racism, Fair Week)

 

Our team consists of experts with and without migration experience. The counselling follows the approach of “helping people to help themselves”. We provide counselling at eye level, in an appreciative manner and with knowledge of cultural particularities. We help people who are in an emergency situation quickly and unbureaucratically.

Since 2018, we have been carrying out projects in West Africa. We offer traumatised people therapeutic support and open up alternatives to immigration to Germany with counselling and German language courses.

The fka’s headquarters are located in the Karlsruhe Human Rights Centre, in the immediate vicinity of the State Initial Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers (LEA) Durlacher Allee. Another branch of the association is the fka office Südpfalz in Bismarckstraße 6 in Germersheim.

The board of directors consists of Priska Löhr (managing director) and Edwin Yigbe (advisory function).

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