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Hi my name is Patrik and I organize cultural events for Paje Sahi Kamãnawa while he is in Sweden.
Unfortunately, when I should have picked up the Paje at the airport, Paje Sahi and his nephew was not allowed entry. Since 16.30 on Tuesday, they have been in the Swedish Immigration custody.
The Swedish Immigration office say 'we have reason to believe that they will earn money in an un-legal way'. This even though we have been shown proof of that the money goes to an association in Brasil named Instituto NokeKoi.
The penalty. 2 years of no entry to the whole Schengen area. Which is pretty much the whole of Europe.
On top of that. Have our friends been badly treated by the Swedish authorities. They did not provide any legal assistance. After two flighs and waiting on the decision from Swedish authorities for over 4 hours, our friends just received a sandwich and a little bottle of water, no breakfast this morning, and well after 12 a clock they were allowed to eat, and pay with their own money for the meal. They we're not allowed to take shower which is an important ritual in their tradition. For the first day they were not given wifi, which made it it almost impossible for us, worrying on the outside, to get to know what was going on and be able to comfort them. We ask for the Swedish authorities to be at least respectfull to our friends who have committed no crime and now are wrongfully ripped of their freedom.
We have come in contact with a very nice lawyer who believes we have good chances in remove the 2 year Schengen-ban.
Because the income for the events did not happen, the situation is already around -2000 eur. This is ofcourse my risk and responsibility as a organizer. And I dont ask for any founds for this part.
But... we need help with costs for the lawyer that will be somewhere between 200-400 eur/hour, Depending on the outcome of the new decision there might come additional costs like flights and unknown costs. All the additional money collected in this Crowdfunding will go to the Instituto NokeKoi, for the indigenous people, because it is a whole village that lives out of Paje Sahi's work.
The whole purpose with this European tour was for Paje Sahi, to raise founds to the construction of the NokeKoi cultural center and traditional school. Follow this links for more information about the project: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6STqAUt1f0/?igsh=YXZ1cXNqaGtoZmN3
If many people can help with donating 30 euro each or more, then we can reach far together.
It is pretty urgent to get some founds, so that we can get the lawer working and getting them out of there.
Thank you so much! Varivari!