During the 2015 European migrant crisis, most countries refused to take in the arriving refugees. While Germany ultimately accepted most of them, the whole country almost cried out in unison: 'We don't have any more room either.' However, the refugees from Ukraine are now welcomed with open arms...
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Expelled from 'arrival centres'
And space is being made for them! As the online magazine Foreign Policy (FP) reports, hundreds of Afghans are being evicted from their accommodation in Berlin. People, some of whom have lived there for several years, are being banished from their familiar surroundings.
The whole thing is justified with the following officialGerman jargon: as the accommodations are so-called 'arrival centres,' they are only intended for a short-term stay.
Evictions were hushed up
Tareq Alaows, board member of the Berlin Refugee Council, tells FP:
The evictions were deliberately not publicised. Some people had lived in their houses for years and were torn out of their social structures, including children who were moved to places far away from their respective schools.
The situation does not look any better in Hamburg either, as NDR reports. There, numerous refugees have been trying in vain for months to renew their identity papers. They need these to secure jobs.
Authority admits to being overwhelmed
The Office for Migration admits in writing to the NDR:
Due to the high number of people from Ukraine seeking protection, there were restrictions in the processing of regular activities in some areas of the Department for Foreigners' Affairs.
Volunteer Axel Limberg has other words for it:
What is happening here is a failure on the part of the authorities.
Limberg had to witness several refugees he was assisting not receiving valid papers and thus losing their homes and/or jobs.
In the video, we reveal why the argument 'we in Germany can't take in everyone' is completely irrelevant.
This article has been translated from Gentside DE.
Read more:
⋙ Prince Charles: The Duke of Cornwall may open multiple royal estates to Ukrainian refugees
⋙ War in Ukraine: 44,000 people sign up to host a Ukrainian refugee in 5 hours
⋙ Harry and Meghan partner up with aid organisations in Afghanistan and Haiti
