By Gunnar Schupelius
Only in rare cases are refugees actually admitted based on need. Immigration is still completely disorderly. That’s the problem, says Gunnar Schupelius.
Berlin has taken in a total of “108 particularly vulnerable Syrians from Lebanon” “as part of the humanitarian state admissions program”.
The Senate announced this on June 22nd. “Berlin is (…) a place of refuge for people in need of special protection from crisis and war zones worldwide,” said Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD). “We want to give families and children in particular a safe life and prospects in our city.”
The Syrians were selected by the UN (UNHCR). They have been living in a camp in Lebanon so far. It is said that these are people who need medical treatment that they cannot get there.
That sounds reasonable and convincing. People who really need help are taken care of here. Who should object? So actually all refugees should be selected, not just these 108.
But this is not the case. There is usually no pre-selection. Immigration runs unchecked across the green border. Last year, Berlin took in around 13,000 asylum seekers in this way, many of whom are not in need of protection in terms of the Geneva Refugee Convention or German asylum law. They can stay anyway because the Senate doesn’t want to deport them, even if they are obliged to leave the country.
In this way, the shelters fill up and there is not enough space for refugees like the ones who have just been taken out of the camp in Lebanon. And the financial resources will not be sufficient either.
You have to look at the figures for Germany as a whole: last year the federal government spent 21.82 billion euros on the accommodation and integration of asylum seekers and migrants. That was before the great wave of refugees from Ukraine.
Integration into the labor market is proceeding only slowly. Of all the asylum seekers who came to Germany between 2015 and 2022, 1.6 million are still unemployed or unable to work.
The numbers continue to rise: In the first half of 2022, the EU recorded twice as many asylum applications as in the same period of 2021. Most of the refugees did not come from Ukraine, but from Syria and Afghanistan, most of whom are striving for Germany.
To put it bluntly: We should always take in people who are really in need. At the same time, however, those who are not granted residency under the law must be turned away. Otherwise the calculation doesn’t add up.
Berlin politics ignores this truth and acts as if there shouldn’t be any borders. The local refugee policy is not based on a sensible concept, what is happening is allowed to happen without intervening to regulate it. This makes no sense and leads to distrust and rejection even among those who actually want to help.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
