By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Across Germany, more than 1 million refugees are packed into school gyms, old military bases, unrented apartments and tents. The influx of the migrants has divided the nation.
But where some people see a crisis, Christian Schlegel sees a challenge.
Schlegel, who works for a news and documentary channel in Germany and is in the U.S. as part of a journalism exchange program, talked to Bowling Green State University students and faculty Tuesday about the refugees who flooded his country in the last months.
Countries like Germany and Sweden were a natural choice for the refugees, some fleeing war and famine, and other trying to escape extreme poverty.
“I think they thought we were a relatively rich country,” with good social services, Schlegel said.
But the influx of 1.1 million migrants in the nation of 80 million tested the social services and the good will of some Germans.
“Germany was unprepared,” Schlegel said, explaining that in 2003, just 127,000 applied for asylum in his country. Processing of the latest refugees has moved slowly. “Refugees have to wait for appointments for several months.”
Meanwhile, some Germans have remained welcoming to the migrants, but others fear it will ruin their culture and security. Those feelings were magnified after the mass assaults reportedly committed by Muslim migrants on New Year’s Eve in the cities of Cologne and Hamburg. Those attacks “mostly served right wing political parties,” Schlegel said. The welcome mat that had been cautiously extended, was pulled back.
Christian Schlegel
The New Year’s Eve attacks fed the “hysteria,” though Schlegel pointed out that far more people die in auto accidents a year than from terrorism.
Schlegel estimated that those vehemently opposed to the refugees – especially Muslims – measure between 10 and 20 percent of Germany. Initially, some clung to the traditional “Dublin Rule,” which states that the European member country where a refugee first hits ground is responsible for that person.
“It’s not our problem,” many Germans felt when the mass migration of refugees began. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed them. “Let them through to Germany,” she said, according to Schlegel.
Germans soon saw that vast numbers of refugees, who out of desperation put their lives in the hands of ruthless smugglers, ended up perishing in locked trucks or drowning at sea.
“Hundreds die every year at Europe’s doorstep,” Schlegel said.
But the 1.1 million who made it to Germany are straining social services. They have been spread out in communities throughout the country, set up in shelters, given food, clothing and some money. “It’s very costly,” he said.
Most are still not permitted to get jobs. “They are not allowed to work. That’s a political thing. People think they are taking their jobs away.”
Others harbor fears that their culture will be lost with the influx of so many Muslims. “They think German culture won’t exist anymore,” he said. “I don’t really understand what their fears are.”
While some Germans question the unwillingness of the U.S. to accept Syrian refugees, Schlegel said there is much more frustration directed toward European countries like France and Spain who aren’t accepting many migrants. And some, like Poland, have completely slammed the door. “They are not willing to take any refugees who are Muslim.”
Meanwhile, many communities in Germany are trying to help the refugees feel at home – even though they may be living in school gymnasiums with 100 other people.
“They are trying to make them feel welcome, as much as possible,” he said. “Germans want the refugees to learn the German language, otherwise they can’t talk to each other.”
Kathy Bradshaw, chair of the BGSU journalism and public relations department, said Schlegel’s visit was of particular interest to students and faculty, many with German heritage and ties to the nation.
“I’m excited to have him here because the foundation of our community in German culture,” Bradshaw said. “It has a special meaning for them because of those connections.”
Schlegel is one of 11 German journalists in the U.S. for three weeks. The first week was spent in Washington, D.C., the third week in New York City, and the middle week they were spread throughout the nation, with Schlegel assigned to the Toledo area.
