Information for visitors to detainees for deportation

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In July 26th, 2014 all detainees waiting for deportation staying in the JVA Büren were moved to the prison for people being deported in Berlin-Köpenick. Other detainees from NRW also were in Eisenhüttenstadt. More on this (in German) here.

Since May 2015 the prison in Büren was re-opened again - now overseen by the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). For the conditions during imprisonment in Büren a new law was issued by the parliament of NRW (Landtag). Many regulations have been redefined then.

When you want to visit a friend or a relative or an acquaintance of yours in prison at Büren, you will have to observe the following:

1. Access to this prison is possible only if you are in possession of a valid identification document (e.g. a passport, an identity card or a similar document); a driving licence, for instance, will not be accepted. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are subject to residential restrictions imposed by the office for foreigners (Ausländerbehörde), please apply for a permit to visit this prison.

2. Before your visit, you should make a phone call to make sure that the person you want to see is present on that particular day; he might be absent because of an appointment with his consulate or the court or some other reason.

The phone number is (since 2017-11-30): (05231) 71-2990

3. Visiting times: Every day from 9 am to 19 pm.
The individual visiting time is not restricted.

4. You may leave clothes, hand luggage and suitcases for the prisoner at the entrance, but be aware that, in case of deportation, the maximum weight of his or her luggage is limited to 20-25 kilos.

5. You can take at least phone cards, stamps and some small change inside. With this money you can buy drinks, tobacco, etc. from the indoor vending machines.  

6. It is possible to deposit money on the account of the prisoner.

It is possible that some of these rules will be changed at some time by the prison - we will then try to note this here as soon as possible.

Some more advice:

Before depositing any money, think twice. – In most cases the money will be confiscated to pay for the costs of the deportation (since the prisoners have to pay for the expenses of the detention and deportation, transport to the embassy and to the airport, as well as for the flight ticket and any deportation accompanied by officers). An amount of 225 € is safe from confiscation. However, for this 225 €  all incoming money is counted during the whole time of imprisonment, independently if the prisoner has already spent part of it. If the prisoner possesses money of his own, his pocket money may be cut.

If you decide to deposit money despite these risks, you may do so by way of a bank transfer order.

Banking details:     First name, Surname
Bank account number:  IBAN: DE13 3701 0050 0977 2355 03
Bank code  BIC: PBNKDEFF   Postbank Essen

The address of the prison near Büren is:

Abschiebehaft-Einrichtung UfA Büren
Stöckerbusch 1
33142 Büren

In the Web: http://www.bezreg-detmold.nrw.de

Journey by car:

Via Büren, take the road towards Haaren at the corner of "Bahnhofstraße" and "Königstraße", turn right after about 6 km and go 2 km further on through the forest.

Or: Via Motorway A 33 from the crossing "Wünneberg-Haaren", when the motorway turns into a normal road B 480 at the exit turn right in direction towards Büren, turn left after about 5 km and go 2 km further on through the forest.

Journey by public transport:

By train to Geseke or Paderborn (Geseke being nearer to Büren than Paderborn), then by bus to Büren (from Paderborn bus number 400, from Geseke bus number 465). From Büren there is only one bus at around noon-time that stops 2 km from the prison. Otherwise you can only take a taxi to the prison, which is at a distance of about 8 km.