Zu Viele Ausländer?

So far, I’ve kept things pretty light-hearted with my posts and for the most part, our time in Europe has been pretty light-hearted. However, I think it’s important now to address one of the current hot-button issues that Germany is facing and the discussions that are happening here.

As you may already know, in the last several months, Europe has been receiving a huge influx of incoming refugees-- many of them escaping the horrendous situation in Syria. Germany has been at the forefront of this crisis, since many refugees hope to settle here because of the strong economy and high quality of life. While several other European countries have been resistant to receiving the refugees, Germany  “opened” its borders and announced they would welcome anyone and everyone, which is estimated to be up to 800,000 asylum-seekers and immigrants this year. 60 Minutes did a really informative piece on this a few weeks ago, which you can watch here(beginning around the 2:20 mark).

Of course, such a political situation will elicit many charged responses, and that has certainly been the case. I would say that the majority of German people are supportive of this initiative and are welcoming the refugees with open arms. They see it as the obvious course of action during a humanitarian crisis and say it would be inhumane to turn their backs on these people in need. It is also a way to bolster the dwindling population and create a new generation of workers to support the economy. The German language course that I took was sponsored by the government and several of my classmates were refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. They echoed similar sentiments as those in the 60 minutes video: they love their home country, but could no longer stay due to the danger and want to settle into a normal, working life as soon as possible.

However, there is also a small, but loud opposition to the open immigration policies. These people believe that the generous social welfare system cannot support so many newcomers and worry about the sustainability/ authenticity of the German culture. Unfortunately, there are some groups who have spun these concerns into rather racist and xenophobic rhetoric. Probably the most well-known of these groups, is PEGIDA (“Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West”), which was formed last year in Dresden.  PEGIDA has been making the rounds around the country holding demonstrations and trying to gain more representation in the government. Earlier in 2015, they had planned to have a rally in Cologne, directly in front of the Dom. In a poignant response, the cathedral provost had all of the Dom lights turned off, literally and figuratively saying that the church would not stand for, nor shed light on PEGIDA’s stances. The rally ended up being cancelled, in part due to the lack of lighting and because a much larger counter-protest (people protesting PEGIDA) was planned. More information here. 

More recently, Cologne made international news again when the leading candidate for mayor (whose current job involves resettling refugees) was stabbed at a campaign rally by a man opposed to immigration. Luckily, she is expected to make a full recovery and won the election while hospitalized.  Violence like this is really, really atypical for Germany, so it’s concerning to see someone go to such lengths just to try to prove a point. More information here. 

The refugee crisis is a very difficult situation and I think it's hard to come up with a solution that will work for all parties involved. There have been calls for other European countries, the US, and Canada to accept more refugees, to ease some of the burden on Germany. Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, along with mayors of other US cities have publicly pledged to welcome Syrian refugees in their cities. 

Will and I have the unique perspective of observing all of this play out as foreigners/immigrants/”Ausländer” ourselves. As a disclaimer, I have to say that we have been treated EXTREMELY well, heartily welcomed, and have not been the victims of any kind of discrimination in Germany. We also live in a neighborhood that is predominately Turkish and has an undeniable international flair. But, it is still a bit uncomfortable for us to read and hear about all of the problems and negative opinions that people have with immigrants arriving. Several times we’ve had to remind friends and colleagues that we also are not German during discussions and debates. Their response is usually that we’re “not the same [as the other immigrants],” presumably due to being of Caucasian and Judeo-Christian descent. 

When we moved to Germany, we knew that living in a different culture would give us new perspectives on things, but this was not a way that we had anticipated.  I think that it’s good for us, to see things in a new way, and to walk, albeit a stroll and not a  marathon, in someone else’s shoes.

Grafitti that reads "Too many foreigners?" in the
subway station in our neighborhood
Photo credit: Ankita