Berlin Must Reform or Abolish Its Refugee Policy

[karl]

We of little faith, must we stand up and announce our selves or shall we keep quite. For the obvious will speak for its self.


09/17/2015 04:08 PM

Bad Faith

Berlin Must Reform or Abolish Its Refugee Policy

A Commentary by Maximilian Popp

The refugee crisis is forcing Berlin's hand. It can reform its existing asylum law or abolish it altogether. Either way, it can no longer get away with the current system of organized hypocrisy.

Here's a status report on European asylum policy: Bulgaria is keeping refugees out with barbed wire fencing along its border to Turkey. Hungary has declared a state of emergency and is shoehorning asylum-seekers into special trains to Austria. Germany has instated border controls. And in Brussels, EU countries are squabbling over mandatory refugee quotas.

Even before German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart Werner Faymann delivered their stern call for European solidarity in Berlin on Tuesday, it was plain to see that the bloc's asylum policy is failing.

For years, the weaknesses of the system have been glaring.

Article 16a of the German constitution guarantees the right of asylum to persons persecuted on political grounds. But the government long ago added a few conditions.

It put in place a Darwinian system along Europe's external borders, with asylum law only applying to those who actually reach EU territory. But this is made virtually impossible by European border policy. EU states have erected fences along their edges and built walls designed to deter refugees. There are no safe, legal ways of reaching Europe for people fleeing countries such as Eritrea, Syria and Iraq. They are left with no choice but to pay human smugglers and make the journey in flimsy boats and overcrowded trucks to Europe before they can claim asylum.

Upending the System

If good fortune and hard cash gets them there, the Dublin Regulation then forces them to remain in the state where they first entered the EU. Not even asylum-seekers whose claim has been approved are at liberty to travel. The upshot is that refugees end up festering away in reception centers in Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy amid conditions that organizations such as Human Rights Watch deem deplorable.

For years, Germany was perfectly content with this system. It allowed Berlin to parade a generous asylum law without ever actually having to take in many refugees. In 2007, only 19,000 people applied for asylum in Germany.

But Berlin can't keep lying to itself. Wars in Iraq and Syria, as well as ongoing crises in Eritrea and Libya, have altered the system at a fundamental level. People have become so desperate that not even the most restrictive asylum policy is enough to stop them from migrating. Their sheer numbers have now toppled the cynical EU border regime.

Crunch Time

Berlin needs to make a decision. It could completely revise its asylum policy, which would entail ambitious resettlement programs, the option of applying for asylum through a country's embassy and the creation of sufficient legal paths for refugees to Europe. The Dublin Regulation would be replaced by a system whereby all European countries would take in a share of refugees. The EU would have to guarantee that member states not systematically circumvent the minimum standards for refugees by applying the threat of sanctions in the event they violate them.

Reforming the asylum system would incur higher costs for Germany and require greater efforts to be made to integrate new arrivals. But the resources are there. In the first half of 2015, the German state earned more than €21 billion ($24 billion) more than it spent. The difficulties in processing refugees experienced these days by authorities in places like Munich, Dortmund and elsewhere are not so much symptomatic of any bottom-line inability to help but more the result of the federal interior minister's mismanagement. This spring, Thomas de Maizière formulated Berlin's asylum policy on the basis of obviously inaccurate figures.

The alternative to reforming the asylum law is to do away with it. The German government could admit that it's nice in theory, but that Berlin is unable or unwilling to actually implement it under the current difficult circumstances. This would amount to a betrayal of all the values Germany claims to hold dear. But it would be more honest than the current system of organized hypocrisy.


URL:
www.spiegel.de/international/germany/berlin-needs-to-reform-or-abolish-its-current-refugee-policy-a-1053275.html

Presenter

Karl

[Nictoshek]

[pieter]

This is in Dutch unfortunately, but the excellent quality newsprogram Nieuwsuur of the national public broadcast corporation NOS/NPS had the Berlin refugee challenge as a subject yesterday in their program. Watch the Video:

nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2058603-een-dag-en-een-nacht-in-de-vluchtelingenopvang-van-berlijn.html?title=een-dag-en-een-nacht-in-de-vluchtelingenopvang-van-berlijn

This Palestinian irritates me. He says: "The authorities in Syria are better than yours here -in Germany-, I find it terrible over here." Comment Pieter: "Whel, go back than to Syria you spoiled brad, if you find it better over there!" I can't stand these kind of people. Do we need such spoiled, irritating and arrogant people? There is no country in Europe (accept maybe Sweden) who is doing more to welcome, shelter, protect (against hunger, thirst, cold and far right violence and aggression) these refugees than Germany. Germany is a very good country with very good people and very good authorities. Both the German population and the German government are helping the refugees. See what these Berlin citizens are doing for them and how they are helped by the Berlin/German authorities. No hostility, no persecution and no troubles whatsoever. Police creates a protective shield around the refugees in some German places where far right mobs want to attack them. They could wish and pray that they had such good governments and peoples in their Arab countries. That's why I am so angry about the comment and attitude of this fellow. I have nothing against Palestinians in general, but I have something against the mentality and attitude of this fellow.

Sorry, I am overreacting here maybe. Yes, the refugees have a hard time, but don't they understand how hard it is for the European and National authorities, the international community and especially muncipalities like Berlin to handle this humanitarian crisis. These refugees don't understand the countermovement of rightwing populism, the hard conservative right and also some elements within the European populations who have great doubts, reservations or simply aversion or resentment or antipathy towards them.

Do they honestly believe that they would arrive in Heaven, in Paradise, in Disneyland in some sort of Germanic Valhalla,?

P.S.- Refugees behave yourselves, have some gratitude and understanding for the people who are trying to help you, that is what I wanted to say. I am irritated about this Palestinian man and other refugees who are rotten apples. I have nothing against the refugee families, and decent young men amongst them. We have to separate chaff from wheat!

[pieter]

This Newshour (Nieuwsuur) subject is dedicated to iconic images of suffering of civilian people in war, civil war and refugee situations.



Aylan Kurdi from Kobani



The Turkish photographer Nilüfer Demir made the iconic image of the 3 year old Syrian Kurd boy Aylan Kurdi from Kobani who was washed upon the shore of Bodrum, Turkey on September 2, 2015. Alan Kurdi's image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the Syrian refugee crisis.


A beach event was held by Defend International in memory of Alan Kurdi and other refugees, 4 September 2015

[pieter]

Dear friends,

The United Nations, World Bank, IMF, USA, EU, Russia, China, Brasil, India, Japan, South-Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Great-Britain, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, the Baltic states, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Switzerland, Luxmeburg, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Saoudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and even Israel and Palestine have to cooperate to resolve this international refugee crisis. All these nations have to gather supplies, means of transportation and shelter for these refugees.

Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Greece, Germany, Austria and Sweden can't handle this crisis on their own. There must be international coordination, cooperation, diplomatic efforts, funding, and thus finding a real solution for this problem. Fact is that some Central- and Eastern-European nations are less wealthy and have less means to shelter the refugees than Western-European nations and the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Australia doesn't want refugees, but should be forced to reconsider it's migrant policies.

Saoudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwayt also should take in some refugees. They are wealthy nations and share the same Arab Sunni-Muslim background with many of the Syrian refugees. Why don't they help the Syrian refugees?

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

Dear friends,

In my opinion the refugees should be spread fairly over the world over all wealthy nations. Every nation has to take a fair share. Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey should be helped. These refugees should be transported by air, train, bus, safe and decent boats to the countries that can recieve them. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindu's, Buddhists and others should look at their charity, their humanity, their means and possibilities to help, and should cooperate, coordinate, negotiate and act in helping these people.

The refugees will have to realise that their lives will change abroad. They will have to learn new languages, new customs, new rules and laws, and understand that they will live in nations in which a majority of the people have another ethnic background, culture, religion, political system and economy. They will stay Syrian and Muslim in heart and identity, but will become European, American, or something else in nationality, culture, present and future. They will have to accept change, transformation and some kind of integration.

The world must help them and they have to help the world in making it easy to help them, by a cooperative, flexible and adapting attitude.

Look at how much Germany, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands and others are doing to help these refugees. Especially Germany and Sweden.

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Sept 20, 2015 9:45:16 GMT -7 pieter said:

Dear friends,

The United Nations, World Bank, IMF, USA, EU, Russia, China, Brasil, India, Japan, South-Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Great-Britain, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, the Baltic states, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Switzerland, Luxmeburg, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Saoudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and even Israel and Palestine have to cooperate to resolve this international refugee crisis. All these nations have to gather supplies, means of transportation and shelter for these refugees.

Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Greece, Germany, Austria and Sweden can't handle this crisis on their own. There must be international coordination, cooperation, diplomatic efforts, funding, and thus finding a real solution for this problem. Fact is that some Central- and Eastern-European nations are less wealthy and have less means to shelter the refugees than Western-European nations and the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Australia doesn't want refugees, but should be forced to reconsider it's migrant policies.

Saoudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwayt also should take in some refugees. They are wealthy nations and share the same Arab Sunni-Muslim background with many of the Syrian refugees. Why don't they help the Syrian refugees?

Cheers,
Pieter

Pieter

In your last sentence you have touched upon those responsible for most of this mess, for it is the Arabs them selves. For it is in their lands this IS situation has grown, and it is in their lands they have stood by for some one else to stand up with a military confrontation against the IS. It is then to these Arabs the responsibility to bring back and care for these refuges, and what have they done? Absolutly nothing but to carry on with their complaining and whining. What this amounts to is they {Arabs} are gutless and frightend to take action. In this stead, they pay off those leaders of such organizations as the IS to stay out of their respective lands.

Realizing of course that the use of Arab is painting with broad brush strokes, but the message is clear. The primary fighting people is the IS at present, there is no apparent viable opposition once Syria has been worn down by these various years of fighting. Russian has stepped in with equipment, man power and technitions in Syria. With this, a small contingent of combat aircraft for some air protection.

The Americans at one time could have held the hearts of most people in the Gulf Region, but lost that opportunity to two useless wars and various suspicious organizations they covertly armed and supported. Now, the problem has turned against all with such manufactured groups such as The IS.

Now, it is to the Arab States to pick them selves up, buckle on their duty belts over their uniforms and get to work cleaning up this mess. Once cleaned up, their {Arab} responsibility is to bring back the refuges and forget about settling old scores.

Other wise, an Arab is such as they always have been, Arabs.

Karl

[pieter]

Dear Karl,

I agree with you to a large extend, but maybe I am a little bit more moderate. I haven't got the experience you have with the Arabs from Syria. I know the Sunni-Muslim Berber Moroccans and Sunni-Muslim Turks and Kurds from the Netherlands, and some Iraqi Kurds, Iranians, Afghans and Bosnian Muslims. The Saoudi's and Qatari could use the skilled, trained city people from Aleppo, Homs, Daraa and Damascus, but in staid of taking them in they are afraid that the Syrian Sunni-Arabs Arabs, Druze, Armenians, Assyrian christians might disturb their clan and tribal status quo. The internal struggle between Arab tribes and clans is centuries old and exists on the Arab Peninsula, in the Iraqi desert, in Jordan and in Palestine (conflicts between Palestinian clans, between PLO/Fatah and Hamas, the beduins of the Negev desert and the city arabs and etc.) The Saoudi's are a bunch of ultra-conservative, reactionary, petty nationalist, provincial desert Arabs who fear the Syrian cosmopolitan, more secular, city Arabs from the Syrian cities. I think that is the reason they are reluctant to take them in. The Syrians are less puritinical than the Saoudi's, have a different Arab dialect,, come from another region and due to decades of Baath regime influences are more secular than the Saoudi's.

This xenophobic, ethnocentric, fanatical fundamentalist, isolationalist, clan and tribe based culture of the Saoudi's makes it very difficult for expats, foreigners and migrants from other Arab and Muslim nations to live there. I read about the exploitation and humiliation of Egyptian and Palestinian guestworkers in Saoudi Arabia. Saoudi Arabia is only good for other Muslims if they go on Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. This is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey. But I have heard stories and read reports that non-Sunni Muslims and non-Arab muslims were treated badbly by the Saoudi's. For instance Shia Muslims from Iran and Iraq. From the other hand everybody is equal in Mecca during the Hajj.

The lage problem of Arabs is that they have never seen peace in their Arab lands, and that Arabs for centuries always have been at war with eachother. It's in their genes, dna and mentality. No Arab fully trusts an other Arab. The Arab Leage is a Leage of the Most divided nations and region in the world.

Cheers,
Pieter