German Cabinet – Ece Varol – Cenk Esen
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German Cabinet – Ece Varol – Cenk Esen
Who Are Refugees?
The UNHCR describes refugees as people fleeing from conflict or persecution. Refugees
leave their countries due to any of the following reasons:
-Race
-Religion
-NationalInterests
-PoliticalOpinion
Membership in Particular Social Groups. Many countries such as Syria, Greece and
Palestine have had ongoing refugee crises in the previous years. There are currently 65.3
million individuals who are displaced worldwide. This number was 59.5 million in the year of
2015. It is important to be aware of the fact that many of the refugees in the Middle East
have fled to European countries. Some countries have had positive policies towards this
crisis. Turkey can be given as an example. Turkey has accepted over 3 million refugees since
2010. There have also been many countries who have come against aiding refugees with
shelter and needs. Some Facts:
• Over 34.000 people are forcibly displaced as a result of conflict of persecution.
• 21.3 million of the refugees are under 18 years old.
• MEDC’s(More Economically Developed Countries) host 80% of the world’s refugees.
• The amount of refugees has rised by an amount of 40 million in the last six years. Germany &
Refugees Germany, a country known with a positive policy towards refugees, has accepted
1.1 million internally displaced individuals in the year of 2015. This amount was 5 times higher
than the year of 2014. Germany has experienced many governmental issues concerning this
crisis. Angela Merkel was openly criticized of accepting too many refugees into the country.
Horst, Seehofer, the leader of Germany’s Christian Social Union stated accepting 200.000
refugees a year would be more than generous.
German Cabinet – Ece Varol – Cenk Esen
Germany’s federal migration agency aims all regional outlets to fingerprint asylum seekers
and refugees in order to prevent cheat identities. These are estimated to have caused the country’s
taxpayers up to 5 million Euro. However it is still unclear whether this proposal can be implemented
since more than 90 percent of Germany’s migration offices are unequipped. The issue of multiple
identities was also a problem that emerged when Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspect who drove through
the crowd in a Christmas market in Berlin, was found to have used 14 different aliases.
Angela Merkel is known to have an open door migration policy but economic advisers have
calculated that Germany has spent £8bn already on benefits such as housing and healthcare for the
new coming immigrants. German police have also had to employ more officers to deal with the flux.
It is expected for this policy to cause Germany at least £17billion this year. Merkel has admitted that
she regrets the open-door migrant policy, saying, “I wish I could turn back time”
Sexual violence has also reached an epidemic since Angela Merkel opened the doors to
more than one million male migrants from Africa, Asia and Middle East. On July 7, the German
parliament approved changes to the criminal code that expand the definition of rape and also make
it easier to deport the migrants that commit sex crimes. This may be tied to the change in culture
and circumstances the refugees are accustomed to. Most of these refugees come from Muslim
countries and are not accustomed to the male-female relations in European countries. For example
many male refugees have never swum with woman before. In Syria, most of the public swimming
pools are separated by gender so men are not used to seeing women in bathing suits. Although this
does not justify their actions, detecting the motive behind their actions are an important step in
solving the issue.
The German society is divided when it comes to the topic of immigration. Initially the people
were showing welcoming reaction to refugees however the limited capacities of the government had
to be faced. As a result, in parallel with the other European countries, Germany has tightened its
asylum laws and a new integration law has been designed to protect the German that the
Constitution has defined.
If implemented properly to the society’s system, the refugees and asylum seekers coming
from other countries could have benefits to the nation. For example the efficiency at unskilled labor,
which vary from nannies to tomato pickers, increases. The high skilled migrants on the other hand
also contribute to the society through their knowledge. Also small businesses become cost-efficient
because there is sufficient supply of labor to keep the business running. These immigrants are also
German Cabinet – Ece Varol – Cenk Esen
likely to start their own small- businesses, improving the productivity of our society.
Although Germany’s open-door policy is a very humanitarian approach, if measures are not
taken to implement the incoming people to the country’s system, it would cause more harm than
benefit.
One of the main reasons people migrate to Germany, other than feeling war and violence, is
because of the economy and their hopes in finding jobs and gaining financial stability. If Germany
and other EU countries were increase the support to such countries and help built a proper
economic infrastructure, the citizen’s need to migrate would be eased.
Resources:
• https://www.rt.com/news/376718-germany-refugee-benefits- fingerprinting/
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3780104/Angela-Merkel-s- open-door-migration-policycost-Germany-17billion-s-just- year.html
• http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/712125/Angela-Merkel- admits-regrets-open-door-migrantpolicy
• http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/new-reality-germany-adapts- its-role-major-migrantmagnet? gclid=Cj0KEQiA8orFBRCEpODivaOft_EBEiQAy3mlfSQarxdhSluZ
CVI4iKsSn4LyOosL64DUgjNAHHOOUykaAp3m8P8HAQ,
• https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8663/germany-migrants-rape
• https://qz.com/786261/germany-and-europes-migrant-crisis-in-a- rare-show-of-regret-angelamerkel-admits-she-lost-control-of-her- refugee-policy/
• http://www.unhcr.ie/about-unhcr/facts-and-figures-about-refugees
• https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/iraq-jordan-lebanon-syria- turkey/quick-facts-what-you-needknow-about-syria-crisis