REFUGEE SERIES: GERMANY, A BAD EXAMPLE?

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by Elena Alders
Germany

In my second article for the Refugee Series, I showed Germany as an example for a good integration of refugees. But I should get real and also claim that there are still a lot of problems and pending discussions concerning the refugee’s situation here.

The neo-Nazi Pegida for example is a very big problem: The Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (German:Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes) hold opinions that Germany is happy to be rid of, after the Nazis lost their fight against foreigners.

The organisation regularly carries out demonstrations against refugees and other Muslim people coming to Germany. Pegida mostly takes advantage of those people who are afraid of the changes that are caused by the rise of asylum seekers in Germany and Europe in general.

Not every member of Pegida is a Nazi; many of them just have a weak character and can be manipulated very easily. And there are many Germans who protest against Pegida and its xenophobic opinions. Luckily, they outnumber the Pegida adherents.

Still, Germany should never let its guard down; it should see to it that Pegida does not attract more and more followers to their lamentable movement. Germany, with its cruel history, handles this kind of movements very well and most of the Germans are constantly showing that there is no place for inhuman attitudes such as Pegida’s. Humanity and helpfulness prevail in Germany. For every Pegida demonstration, there is always a bigger demonstration to counter it.

Finally I have to say that it is very sad that there are still people who work against humane handling of the refugee’s situation. Those people do not understand that refugees come to Germany not because they want to but because they have to, to save their lives. Fortunately, there are many many more people – not only in Germany but also in other parts of Europe – who loathe inhumanity and express their sympathy for the refugees by demonstrating against Pegida and like organisations.

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Images

Pegida

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*Ed’s note: This is the third article in the Refugee Series by Elena Alders