The images are dramatic: masses of refugees
trying to cross the border between Greece and Macedonia, boats full of people
arriving at the shores of Europe, refugees living under atrocious conditions on
the island of Kos. And even when they arrive and are brought to their temporary
accommodations, they are still not safe. This weekend, the East German town of
Heidenau witnessed nights of violence, with right wingers, Neo-Nazis and their
followers blocking the access to the refugees’ new home, leading to clashes
with the police and even attacks on buses carrying refugees. The fate of
refugees all over Europe is present on all media channels, and it will change
the European society as we know it.
Even if you
try, it is impossible to ignore or not see the refugees that come to Europe –
not only in media, but also in your daily life. They are doing their shopping
in the local super markets, before walking home to their accommodations –
either in an actual building or in a tent village somewhere at the outskirts of
the towns. But in most cases, they are in centralized refugee centres where
they cannot leave that easily and where thousands and thousands of refugees are
cramped on very narrow space. With this mass of refugees from partly different
cultures and the days and weeks going by without knowing what will happen next,
tensions rise and in occasional cases, violence inside the accommodations
erupt. Several reports on violence inside homes for refugees and asylum seekers
indicate that the living conditions are becoming unbearable for many refugees
and that the authorities are completely overwhelmed with the masses of refugees
and how to supply and accommodate them adequately.
Migration in Millions to Come
Germany itself
expects up to 800,000 refugees by the end of this year, most of these come from
Syria, Serbia, Eritrea, and Afghanistan. That is more than the population of
Frankfurt, or roughly about the same as the population of Marseille. Out of all
EU countries, Germany takes the most of all refugees. In comparison, the UK
only takes less than 10 % of that share and does pretty much everything to keep
refugees out of UK, assisting France to close the access to the Eurotunnel to
prevent refugees from entering trains to cross the channel.
Though not
at the frontline of migration, Germany is one of the main destinations for
refugees, alongside with Sweden. These two countries are also the ones,
according to “The Economist”, that processed 40% of all asylum applications in
the EU in 2014. Up to now, Germany has received more than 200,000 asylum application
– huge compared to the UK where less than 30,000 applications have been
received.
The EU
follows different approaches in the migration policy, facing the biggest ever
mass migration figures in its history; and the biggest in European history
since the end of World War 2. With millions of people desperately crossing the
Mediterranean Sea with their bare lives, after having lost everything they had
in their home countries, everything what these people want is just a safe place
to live and to work. This weekend, this desperation was visible at the Greek-Macedonian
border, where hundreds of refugees crossed the barbwire protected border. The
Macedonian authorities gave in, completely unable to cope with the masses of
refugees, after having imposed a state of emergency a few days ago and trying
to scare off refugees with tear gas.
Accepting Reality – A Difficult Task for Some
Every
country takes a different approach on dealing with mass migration. While the UK
tries to limit the potential move of migrants to the UK through the Eurotunnel
and assists France in its efforts, Hungary even goes a step further. Building a
huge fence at its border to Serbia, the message sent is very clear: we do not
accept refugees or migrants of any kind. Slovakia did not completely seal off
its borders yet, but it originally granted access for Christian refugees only –
with cheap excuses saying that they “don’t have any Mosques”. After heavy
criticism, Slovakia finally also granted non-Christian refugees to enter the
country.
Slovakia is
just one example of an increasing hostile mind-set for wide xenophobia and
racism all over Europe. The images of refugees stranding on European shores,
swarming at train stations and rushing through national borders raise deep
concerns in society that their governments and their societies might not be
able to cope with supplying accommodation a social services to a vast majority
of the resident population. Many people see the refugees as a potential threat
to their own standard of living, or a threat to their culture and economic and
social stability. As a result, violence erupts wherever refugees and asylum
seekers arrive.
Right wing
extremists picture exactly the image of an over-crowded country, where the
social welfare system will be “exhausted” by foreigners, taking jobs and
lowering the wages and salaries – or even slowly destroying national culture,
values, and identity. Even though Germany is accepting more refugees and asylum
seekers than any other EU country, the government is very reluctant to adapt to
this new situation, and some conservative biased wings still negate the new
fact that Germany is a de facto country of immigration. The right conservative
CSU (Christian Social Union) refused to support a new migration law, and some
politicians even propose to cut the asylum seekers financial allowances. An asylum
seeker receives allowances of 143 Euro, but for conservative politicians like
CSU’s Joachim Hermann or Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere, it is
still too much as this allowance is “higher than an Albanian teacher’s monthly
salary”.
This
allowance is limited for the first three months, afterwards their financial
support is similar to the Hartz-IV allowance (around 359 Euros per month) – the
basic social aid someone can receive in Germany. However, asylum seekers are
not allowed to work in the first months of their stay in Germany – though employers
are craving for highly qualified workers no matter their origin, and even
afterwards they have a tough time of being integrated into the Germany society.
Language is one issue, but social acceptance is another story.
Xenophobes and Racists on the Move
The number of
right wing anti-refugee attacks is increasing and this weekend for instance has
witnessed a severe upraise of xenophobic violence. Tragically, some right wing
NPD politicians use the refugees as propaganda tool for their own racist and
anti-asylum agenda. Public calls for tolerance, assistance for refugees and to
face off racists are being under attack on all media channels, specifically
through social media. German news anchor Anja Reschke was heavily attacked on
social media by racist trolls; users are witnessing an open xenophobic tendency
all through the web. The Neo-Nazi Party NPD is not even hiding its own users to
post racist comments all over the web. The question is: are these racist
comments you can find on Facebook, Twitter, or in articles’ comment sections
independent views, or guided and monitored by right wing parties and
organizations? Guided or not guided, there are more being attracted by right
wing slogans, by xenophobic panic making and by right wingers’ demonstrations.
Last weekend, many citizens of the town of Heidenau actually participated in
the NPD demonstrations, showing their support for the NPD. The next elections
in Germany will only take place in two years’ time, but the NPD is already
getting ready to mobilize its voters’ base. As a side note: exactly 23 years
ago, an asylum seekers’ home in the East German city of Rostock was also under
attack by right wing extremists, with support from parts of the Rostock
population.
Lessons learned? Obviously not.
Additionally
– as an argument of all right wingers and anyone focusing on security, the
terrorist factor might apply once again. With Belgium nearly escaping a
terrorist attack in a Thalys train on route from Amsterdam to Paris this
weekend, the question is instantly asked again, if mass migration is actually a
channel for terrorism to enter Europe unmonitored and uncontrolled. Countries
that have experienced Islamist terrorism in the past might take a far more
restrictive immigration policy than those that have not yet been hit. This
arguments seems preposterous in the view of the humanitarian disaster happening
at Europe’s borders, but fear is in fact a powerful political argument
Change of Europe as We Know it, Sooner than We
Think
As German
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
have both stated, the current migration movements are a task of a whole
generation and it will shape the future of Europe within the next years. For
European societies it will probably be the biggest challenge ever yet. It is up
to the current and coming generations to deal with the integration of refugees,
to promote a peaceful coexistence and to ensure equal living standards to all
citizens living in Europe – migrated or not. Besides that, the second biggest
challenge for European society is also to promote an open society throughout
all EU countries, which seems like a tough tasks in the view of different
migration policies of its member states and the rise of nationalism and racism.
While Germany could be regarded as a “shining” example for accepting refugees,
others follow a back-driven restrictive policy, locking borders and actually
promoting xenophobia.
These
changes might, however, come quicker than we think now. Probably by next year
already, we will see significant changes in a way, we cannot predict yet. One
thing is for sure: The Europe of tomorrow – or next year –is not going to be
the same one as the Europe of today.
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