Refugees’ hardships

Europe is experiencing a period marked by major pressure on its borders by refugees and asylum-seekers arriving from world countries – for humanitarian reasons and owing to a set of blatant violations of human, political and religious rights – most of them arriving from the Near and Middle East and from Africa. Most importantly, EU countries’ legislations are not harmonized. Germany is the first EU country that has come to grips with the question. But after recent protests in Berlin and hunger strikes in Munich, the desperation of so many refugees became evident to the national public opinion. Massimo Lavena, SIR Europe, interviewed father Frido Pflüger, who has been in charge of the Jesuits Refugee Service in Germany for the past year. What is the situation of refugees and asylum-seekers in Germany? “Asylum-seekers are not doomed to be homeless, as often happens in other European countries. They do enjoy basic benefits regulated by the State. However, certain regulations, some of which can be described as authentic oppressions, making their life in Germany difficult. In fact, they have no working permit, while residence requirements severely limit their freedom of movement. They have no right to attend German language courses; in Bavaria they are given food rations, which is widely viewed as a degrading form of protection. Until a year ago state aid payments to asylum-seekers were lower than the country’s minimum subsistence level. Only after a Federal Constitutional Court ruling policymakers have adopted measures to ensure the same level of benefits as the country’s welfare recipients. Indeed, regulations to this regard seem to want to say: you aren’t welcome here”. What are your proposals?”We have been demanding the removal of all obstacles and limitations for a long time already. Asylum procedures must be fair and should be finalized within a reasonable timeframe. Politicians’ attitude must change, along with that of a large number of citizens. Many people consider refugees as a threat, while in fact they represent an enrichment for our country and for our society. They bring talents, experience and often also inner strength. As Christians we are called to welcome them with courtesy and warmth, as the Leviticus states in clear terms: ‘Love thy stranger as yourself’. That’s why it’s despicable that refugees and migrants are often rejected in Christian-conservative environments”.Germany is a door to Europe: how is the JRS activity articulated? “The Jesuit Refugee Service is operative in Berlin, in Brandenburg and in Bavaria, where it provides spiritual and legal assistance to all those in detention centers, while awaiting expulsion. It provides legal advice and support to refugees and migrants who hope to obtain a right of residence in Berlin after having been identified as ‘serious cases.’ We do lobbying activity and raise public awareness on the rights of refugees and ‘sans-papiers’. We are very worried of the fact that the detention regime of those awaiting expulsion concerns increasing number of refugees who are brought to another Member State responsible for examining an asylum application. All those who experienced traumas and need support and are now seeking protection in Europe, should not be sent to prison! In some cases we offer help through funding for advice and legal support. We strive to ensure that the situation of people being detained pending deportation may be only a last resort which is not applied to asylum-seekers”.What is the relationship between Germany and refugees from Middle-Eastern countries? “I’ll give you an example. It’s a positive fact that Germany – the only country in Europe – declared it would take in another 5000 Syrian refugees. It’s a positive example, which we hope will be followed by other Countries. It should also be said that this is a low number, considering that at least 5000 people flee from Syria every day! On the whole, we are under the impression that the German people are following the emergency in Syria with great participation”.What is Germany’s attitude towards migrant flows from Eastern Europe? “The media and political debates focus on the situation of Roma arriving from Bulgaria and Romania. This sadly shows that racism, which is often takes this ethnic group as a target, is spread also across Germany. Also the debate on the so-called ‘abuse of asylum’ by Roma from Serbia and Macedonia fails to fully acknowledge discrimination against the Roma from those Countries, under all existential aspects. That’s our request is that all requests of asylum be accurately and fairly verified”.