Germans to extend welcome to refugees
Country expected to accept more than 800,000 this year
BERLIN— Germany made it official this week: Syrians and Iraqis fleeing war, the Islamic State and their shattered lives back home are welcome here.
Chancellor Angela Merkel became the first European head of state to say “welcome” succinctly.
She was addressing a migrant and refugee crisis that has seen thousands drown in the Mediterranean and is now expected to bring more than 800,000 people to Germany in 2015.
During a news conference Thursday in Bern, Switzerland, Merkel said it was both an honour and a moral obligation for Germany to take in “die Fluechtlinge,” the refugees.
Because of that, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday proclaimed them “Germany’s problem,” adding: “Nobody wants to stay in Hungary. All of them would like to go to Germany.”
Orban said this on Thursday in Brussels, speaking of the tens of thousands who had flooded into the Keleti train station in Budapest and whom his country had allowed to trickle out toward Austria and Germany only in recent days.
In Berlin, trains arriving Thursday morning from Budapest were almost empty.
Refugees were allowed to board trains Thursday, but those trains only travelled a short distance into the countryside before Hungarian authorities stopped them and moved people to refugee camps.
Still, on a rainy Thursday, German press reports were predicting a record number of arrivals, 14,000 within 24 hours.
The lucky ones — the ones already here, those who have survived the boats, the dangerous “taxis” and the long hikes through the wild mountains — are gathered in the crowded courtyard of the Office for Health and Social Affairs in Berlin, seated on the ground, surrounded by the plastic triangles of sandwich containers.
Zaid, 44, is one, and while he can’t speak German or much English, he punctuates his mostly Arabic sentences with “Germany is good. Germany is very good.”
The welcome is far from universal in Germany. Opinion polls indicate a deeply divided nation; just more than half are in favour of welcoming refugees. There are anti-refugee protests in Dresden, and buildings intended to house asylum seekers have been firebombed around the country.
Still, at soccer games, fans raise banners reading “Refugees welcome.”
Each of Germany’s 16 states is required to take its fair share of refugees . . . The largest and most prosperous will receive more
In Munich, city officials had to ask residents to please hold off on donations of clothes and food for a while, as the city was overwhelmed by what it already had received and needed to hand out more before taking in new offerings.
The migrant crisis is one that has been building for more than a decade and has reached record levels this year. In July 2014, Germany had 16,000 asylum applications. In July 2015, the number of applications was 34,000.
Each of Germany’s 16 states is required to take its fair share of refugees, based on the percentage that state makes up of the national population and the available tax revenue. The largest and most prosperous states will receive more refugees.
Merkel said Thursday that those not fleeing danger were less likely to be granted asylum.
“Those from safe countries will have to return,” she said, referring to the high numbers from the Balkan states.
Around Zaid, in the courtyard of the Berlin Office for Health and Social Affairs, are hundreds of people with similar hopes and stories.
Issam, 20, (who also refused to give his last name for fears for his family back home), admits that in an ideal world he would return to Syria.
“I love Syria,” he said. “But you can’t live there right now.”