SCI READER

Support of Refugees

FT 2016

Selected Readings

Dear Reader,

the SCI Do it! -project „Support of the Refugees at Lorch“ has triggered diverse reactions and reflections by the participating students. For a better overview I sampled a few of them and grouped into different issues such as:

Freedom / War-Experiences / Friends/Women / Populism

Freedom _ Charlotte describes a moment while playing a language game, where she got a glimpse of what it must mean for a person to grow up in a war or under an authoritarian regime and leave everything behind to start a new life.

War-Experiences_ students reflect upon the war in Syria and the Middle East and what it has done to the people. Inan shares the experience of his friend fighting the IS in Kobane. Aymeric discusses how the refugees perceive the engagement of Europeans who fight against the IS. Henri and Marius describe their feelings while listening to stories of people who had lost their beloved ones in the war.

Friends_Frederic tells about his friendship with Mohammed and Hani. Pierre shares his memories of ”Picasso”, who has become a friend of the whole group and Mehran writes about the progress of his friend who has been here since a year.

Women_Some essays reflect the situation of female refugees. Cecile is concerned with the situation of the women in Lorch and Victorien and also Larrissa propose to become more engaged in that area. Thomas and Maksim are concerned with the discrimination of muslim girls in sportsclubs.

Politics_Matin has delivered an excellent essay on the legal situation of refugees from Afghanistan

Populism_Francois counters every single argument against migration with sound economic arguments! This is a must read for everyone to become equipped with rational arguments against xenophobia and racism! Victorien and Charlotte also propose ideas of how to work against populistic ideas and mindsets.

I wish you a pleasant reading and I am looking forward to continue this project. If you are interested in participating please send me a note.

Oestrich Winkel, Jan 20th 2017

With kind regards Marcus Kreikebaum

/ Freedom …

EBS Business School

Essay Do it! Refugees at Lorch

Charlotte Cornu : 23131985 17/12/2016

During the fall term semester, some friends and I decided to participate to

the SCI Do it! Project that come in help to refugees. The reasons we decided to

choose this action rather than any other is because they need help, they need

support and they need to be protected from the havoc of war. Moreover,

European people need to be educated about what is really going on in Syria and

other Middle-East country, they need to be enlightened and aware of the

condition in which refugees are living. That is the reason why we choose to be

part of this project, even if at our level we provide a small help, I truly believed it

made a difference to the people we have met at the camp. Our occupation was

to bring our help to the refugees at Lorch within the search of house, work and to

provide languages course so they can improve their German. We had in mind to

provide them concrete and useful solution to aid them to leave the old hospital,

renovated into an asylum for them. What we did not take in consideration was

their need of interaction and socialisation with people. We spend mainly our visit

in playing games with them, talking, sometime debating on specific subject. They

were truly in demand of comprehension and integration. They were curious about

us, about our culture, but they were more than willing to share their own culture

and knowledge. They needed more listening and attention than anything.

Therefore, we decided to bring them all the happiness we could, to cheer them

up. The topic I would like to elaborate on in this essay is related to social

consequences of my actions. Indeed, I notice a change in behaviour toward other

people between before the project and after.

At first the reason I decided to be involved in the refugee project was

because last year during my internship in Berlin I saw coming the wave of

refugees seeking shelter in park of the city and waiting for a better solution. It was

middle of winter and the weather was really awful and I asked myself why nothing

was done for them. It was really pitiful to see them wandering in the city center,

looking for some help, some food, anything that could help them get through the

winter. However, even if I did felt pity for them, I did nothing to bring them more

comfort. I saw them as potential threat as I was struggling to find a flat. Indeed,

the government implemented a law which forced landlord to rent their empty flat

at a low price to refugee if they did not found anybody before the end of the year.

It was really stressful and I did had the feeling that refugee were stealing my

chance to have an acceptable flat. However, I managed to find a flat with not so

much difficulties and the government decided to open unused building, such as

an old airport, to shelter the refugees. When the fear of not finding a flat

disappeared, I asked myself why I put all the blame on refugees. They did nothing

to deserve that, they were just flying a conflict and try to start again their life in a

new country. They do not speak the language, they do not understand the

administrative step in order to find a flat or find a job, they have to learn all again.

I thought that if I were in the same situation as them, I would be totally lost and I

would hope for some help. The second reason I wanted to participate to this

project is because in France as in U.S., populism start to gain more and more

power. As we saw, President Elected Donald Trump is willing to build a wall

between U.S. and Mexico. I wanted to understand what was about stranger that

could be so terrifying that it absolutely needs to separate population. I have

always been thought that we can learn from anybody at any time. What could

refugee teach me, what could I learn from them?

During the project we spent several hour at Lorch with refugees. At first

our goal was to help them improve their language skills and to find a job and a

flat. However, as we saw, they were more in demand of contact and distraction.

Therefore we decided to play games with them. First because it was a way to

practice German, but while having fun, and second we were building bound with

all of them. During one game, the rule was to draw something on a black board

and to make it guess to the others. We had in mind that the drawing would be

something like a dog, or a cat, or a house etc. But most of the drawing from the

refugees were really powerful and full of feelings. One of them draw himself

behind prison bar. Another draw a beach with a large sun and he call it “freedom”.

That was really an intense moment and all us were touched by those powerful

drawing. It is during this game that I really understand what it means to be

refugee. They all had dreams about their life that had been destroy by the war.

However, they still keep to fight for it. They still are willing to be part of Germany,

to be part of a community, to build again their life. Their strength is really

impressive and their willingness to succeed should be an example to follow for

all of us. They taught me not to give up on what I want. They also taught me to

be able to listen to other and to learn from them. A human being is not made to

live alone, we need to interact and to be confronted to other in order to be able to

grow and be strong.

In conclusion, after this experience I indeed changed my behaviour toward

others. I am now more able to accept and understand thinking and behaviour

different from mine. What is unusual is not anymore a threat, it is an opportunity

to learn and to grow. What I learn during this project is also an awareness about

the political change that are operating in the world but more precisely in France.

Indeed, with the gain in power of the Front National, France is now at risk to close

itself to immigration, which would be dramatic to the country. In a close future,

what I would like to do is to continue coming at Lorch to meet refugees that are

now friends, but also to raise awareness about the danger of the extreme right

party. Education system in France is not turned to the international aspect.

Children are confront to diversity only in the downside of it, they should be able

to make their own judgment knowing that diversity is a chance and not a threat.

In order to transfer what I have learned during this project, I plan to teach the

same thing I learn to every person I would be brought to meet but especially to

children and teenager. With them, we are the younger generation that will have

to change the balance in order to erase the fear of the unknown and the different,

and to accept and work with diversity.

/ War-Experiences …

EBS Business School Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht

Projekt Refugee Relief in Lorch

Fall Term 2016

Essay für Projekt Refugee Relief in Lorch

Student: Inan Tosun

Student-ID: 24032675

Submission date: 31.12.2016

Das zweite Refugee Project an der EBS wurde auf Basis des ersten Refugee Projects

weitergeführt. Unser erstes Projekt lief sehr erfolgreich, womit wir viele Erfahrungen und neue

Menschen und Kulturen kennenlernen konnten. Der Vorteil des ersten Projekts war, dass wir

ein Grundverständnis für die Situation der Flüchtlinge aufbauen konnten. Uns wurde somit

bewusst, woher und warum Menschen aus Krisenländern Unterschlupf in anderen sicheren

Ländern suchen. Gelernt haben wir, dass die Gründe unterschiedlich sind: Diktatorische

Verhältnisse, politische Verfolgungen und Bürgerkriege, die Menschen zu der Flucht zwingen,

z. B. in Äthiopien. Syrien, Jemen, Libyen und weiteren instabilen Ländern. Jeder einzelne

Fliehende verfügt über eine einzigartige und faszinierende Geschichte, die zugleich auch

immer eine traurige Facette hat. Der eine mit einem Lachen im Gesicht und der andere mit

einer starren Mimik. Während dem ersten Projekt hatte ich Ahmad kennengelernt, der mit

seiner Familie aus Syrien nach Deutschland geflohen ist. Ahmad vereinigte in sich alle Aspekte

des Krieges in Syrien und war dadurch für mich eine extreme Erfahrung. Unsere Familien

lernten sich immer näher kennen und Ahmad war bereit, sich zu öffnen und seine Gefühle und

Erfahrungen zu offenbaren. Er erzählte immer mehr Details über den Krieg in Syrien. Seine

Worte verfolgte ich besonders aufmerksam, denn Ahmad ist jemand, der aktiv im Krieg gegen

den IS mitgewirkt hat. Seine Geschichte ist mitreißend und sie aus dem Mund eines

mittlerweile guten Freundes zu hören, verleiht mir zunehmend das Gefühl, dass es eben nicht

nur ein Krieg der Syrer ist, sondern einer, der uns alle gleichermaßen betreffen sollte. So

beginne ich, mich näher damit auseinanderzusetzen.

Ich habe Ahmad als einen zuvorkommenden und offenen Menschen kennengelernt, der oft

lächelte. Man hat ihm seine Erfahrung im Krieg nie angesehen. Als ich ihn näher kennen lernte,

spürte ich über persönliche Gespräche, dass sich hinter dieser Fassade ein anderer Mensch

verbarg. Er war aktiv im Krieg beteiligt, um seine Familie und Freunde zu beschützen.

Nachdem er sich eine Verletzung zuzog, konnte er jedoch nicht mehr an der Front kämpfen.

So war Ahmad und seine Familie gezwungen, sein Heimatland zu verlassen.

Während viele solche Erlebnisse lieber verdrängen wollen, half es Ahmad mir alles über den

Krieg in Syrien aus seiner Perspektive zu erzählen.

Angefangen hat es mit einem Aufstand gegen den Diktator Assad, der zu gewaltigen

Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Regimegegner und dem Regime führte. Der Grund für die

Demonstrationen waren unter anderem die soziale Ungerechtigkeit unter Assad, Armut in den

ländlich besiedelten Gebieten und auch Vetternwirtschaft. Die Auseinandersetzungen gingen

so weit, dass Menschen willkürlich verhaftet, getötet und manche auch zu Tode gefoltert

wurden. Eskaliert ist der Aufstand nach dem Ereignis in Daraa.

Ahmad erzählte mir, dass in Daraa die größten Demonstrationen stattfanden und es das Regime

daher auf Daraa abgezielt hätte. Es folgten willkürliche Verhaftungen und Folter. Darauf folgte

der bewaffnete Protest in Homs und Hama und regelmäßige Massendemonstrationen.

Friedensvermittler der UNO haben sich für die Stabilisierung der Lage eingesetzt, doch das

syrische Regime hielt sich nicht an die Abmachungen. Laut Ahmad wussten alle, dass dieser

Zug einen Krieg einläuten wird. Im Sommer 2012 fielen dann die ersten Fassbomben. Das

syrische Regime versuchte mit immer brutaleren Mitteln die Aufstände niederzuschlagen.

Verzweifelt wurden Bodentruppen und auch Luftangriffe eingesetzt. Assad verlor die

Kontrolle über sein Land. Ahmad sagte, zu dem Zeitpunkt hatte ganz Syrien noch die Hoffnung

auf eine neue, bessere Zukunft. Aber was danach geschehen ist, hätte niemand erahnen können.

Internationale Dschihadisten kamen über die Grenze von der Türkei nach Syrien. Die Lage

verschlimmerte sich, bis schließlich der Krieg in allen Teilen des Landes war. Ahmad war zu

dem Zeitpunkt in Kobane, einer Stadt, die kurdisch besiedelt ist und vom Krieg noch weit

entfernt war.

Erst als die Dschihadisten immer weitere Gebiete Syriens kontrollierten, hat man angefangen

sich zu bewaffnen. Denn der Krieg hatte die Kurden bisher nicht beeinflusst.

Ahmad erzählte, dass der IS gefährlich sei und keine Minderheiten akzeptiere, was ihnen keine

andere Wahl ließ, als mit der Bewaffnung zu beginnen. Gegen Ende 2014 griffen die

Dschihadisten dann wie befürchtet Kobane an. Ahmad sagte, es sei ein ungleicher Kampf

gewesen. Während die Kurden nur alte Waffen hatten, besaßen die Dschihadisten

hochmoderne Waffen und sogar Panzer, mit denen sie Kobane angriffen. Kobane grenzt an der

Türkei und ist somit für die Dschihadisten von entscheidender Bedeutung, um neue Kämpfer

über die Grenzen nach Syrien zu rekrutieren. Ahmad sagte: „der Krieg ist auch zu uns

gekommen“. Der Westen der Stadt wurde mit Granaten beschossen, der Osten mit Artillerie.

Viele Zivilisten verließen die umliegenden Dörfer und flüchteten in die Innenstadt, wo sie

Zuflucht bekamen. Nachdem der IS immer mehr Dörfer einnahm, standen sie zwei Kilometer

vor der Stadtgrenze. Ahmad erzählte überzeugt, wie selbstgebaute Panzerfahrzeuge, die aus

zivilen Fahrzeugen mit Stahlplatten gebaut wurden, Schutz gegen leichte Waffen boten. Er

selbst habe diese „Panzer“ mitgebaut. Doch der IS rückte immer näher und die von den

Vereinigten Staaten geführte Koalition begann IS-Stelllungen in der Nähe von Kobane aus der

Luft zu bombardieren. Dieser Angriff war sehr effektiv, weil sie den Vormarsch der Milizen

verzögerte. Ahmad erzählte, dass sie im Kampf gegen die IS-Milizen optimistisch waren und

sicher waren, dass sie gewinnen werden. Nichtsdestotrotz kam der IS immer näher zur

Stadtgrenze. Ahmad war unterdessen an der Front und kämpfe mit seinen Kollegen. Die IS-

Milizen beschossen seine Stellung immer heftiger. Seine Mitkämpferin, Arin Mirkan verließ

ihre Stellung, um den Panzer zu zerstören, die die Stellung beschoss. Ahmad und seine

Kollegen baten Arin ihre Stellung nicht zu verlassen, doch sie hielt es nicht aus, nichts gegen

den Panzer unternehmen zu können. Sie begab sich in akute Lebensgefahr, obwohl sie

verheiratet und Mutter von zwei Kindern war.

Arin zerstörte den Panzer mit einer Granate, die sie in unter dem Panzer explodieren ließ. Dabei

starb auch sie. Durch ihre selbstaufopfernde Tat konnten Ahmad und seine Kollegen die

Stellung verlassen und dem Tod entkommen. Ahmad sagte: „ihre Tat hat einen Panzer und 16

Gegner getötet. Sie hat dadurch unser Leben gerettet, mein Leben. Ihretwegen sitze ich noch

hier. In solch einem Krieg kämpft man nicht nur um sein eigenes Überleben, man kämpft für

seine Freunde, Familie und die Zukunft. Arin verkörpert für mich die Zukunft. Sie ließ einen

Mann und zwei Kinder zurück für deren Zukunft, für unsere Zukunft. Ich werde immer an sie

denken“. Trotz massiver Luftangriffe der US-Koalition rückten die US-Milizen immer näher.

Ahmad sagte: „Ich sah die IS-Fahne wehen, niemand von uns war jetzt in der Stadt sicher“.

Ahmad schickte seine Kinder und Frau zu einem Bekannten, der über die Grenze zur Türkei

flüchten will. Er selbst wollte immer noch kämpfen. „Ich kämpfe nicht für mich, ich kämpfe

für unsere Familien, für mein Volk und Arin“. Die IS-Kämpfer drangen in das Stadtgebiet

hinein. An diesem Tag verließen bis zu 2.000 weitere Zivilisten die Stadt, doch es waren immer

noch 12.000 Zivilisten in der Stadt. Die IS-Milizen setzten immer wieder Panzer und

Autobomben ein, um weiter vorzurücken. Die kurdischen Kämpfer konnten die Angriffe der

IS-Kämpfer abwehren, aber das Vorrücken der IS-Kämpfer nicht aufhalten. Sie besetzten nun

40 Prozent des Stadtgebietes. Nach tagelangen Kämpfen wendete sich das Blatt langsam und

die kurdischen Kämpfer konnten die IS-Kämpfer aus der Stadt zurückdrängen. „Das war der

Beginn des Rückzuges der IS-Kämpfer, sie haben den Kampf gegen uns verloren“. Die

humanitäre Lage für die verbliebenen Zivilisten war allerdings katastrophal. Die Stadt war

zerstört und es fehlte an Medizin und Nahrung. Ahmad sagte: „auf den Straßen lagen viele tote

IS-Kämpfer, die Infrastruktur war zerstört, es war kalt und wir hatten kaum was zu essen“.

Durch die US-Koalition durchgeführten Luftangriffe gegen den IS konnten die kurdischen

Kämpfer eine Gegenoffensive gegen den IS starten und sie aus der Stadt verdrängen. Ahmad

wurde dabei verletzt. „Ich wurde leicht verletzt, aber war nicht mehr kampffähig. Die

medizinische Versorgung in Kobane war schlecht, daher wurde ich in ein Krankenhaus in der

Türkei eingeliefert, wo ich wieder meine Familie gesehen habe. Ich war glücklich, dass meine

Familie wohlauf war. In den Nachrichten habe ich erfahren, dass der IS endgültig aus Kobane

zurückgedrängt wurde“. Ahmad und seine Familie kamen nach einer langen Reise in

Deutschland an. Ich hatte Ahmad im Rahmen meines außercurricularen Engagements

kennengelernt. Unsere Familie treffen sich gelegentlich.

Seine Geschichte inspirierte mich für unser zweites Projekt. Ich kann mir heute vorstellen, was

Krieg bedeutet. Das ist etwas, was man nicht im Geschichtsunterricht oder aus der Zeitung

lernt. Krieg ist einerseits verheerend und prägt dich für dein Leben, andererseits zeigt es was

für ein Typ Mensch du bist. Krieg hat viele Seiten. Man hat die Helden, die gefeiert werden,

die Unschuldigen, die nichts damit zu tun haben, die Verräter, die Lügner und die, die vom

Herzen Menschen sind, mit all ihren Stärken und Schwächen. Dass Ahmad seine Erfahrung

mit mir teilte, lehrte mir aber noch etwas anderes Essenzielles: Teamwork. Der Sieg der

kurdischen Kämpfer wäre durch Teamwork nicht passiert. Ahmad hatte mit Menschen im

Krieg zusammengekämpft, die er nie zuvor gesehen hatte. Er kannte diese Personen gar nicht

und würde ihnen normalerweise nie sein Leben anvertrauten. Doch im Krieg bzw. in diesen

schwierigen Situationen hat sich das geändert. Sie haben zusammengearbeitet, um ein

kollektives Ziel zu erreichen. Wie bereits erwähnt, hat der Krieg viele Gesichter und hält daher

eine Überraschung für einen offen, welche Person neben einem kämpft. Ist diese Person ein

Verräter, ein Lügner oder doch ein Freund? Man weiß es nicht. In der schwierigen Situation

dieser Menschen gab es jedoch keine Alternative als zusammenzuarbeiten mit Menschen, die

man nie in seinem Leben gesehen hat. Teamwork schweißt Menschen zusammen und macht

es deutlicher einfacher ein kollektives Ziel zu erreichen. Die Kräfte, die dadurch entstehen,

stellen das restliche Risiko in den Schatten.

Diese Erkenntnis ist auch für uns in Deutschland wichtig. Wir haben den großen Ansturm der

Menschen - nicht der "Flüchtlinge" -, die in Not sind, nur deshalb überstanden, weil das Land

Deutschland durch individuelle Helfer und großem Teamwork zwischen den Helfern und dem

Staat zusammengearbeitet haben. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben wir das zweite Projekt an der

EBS Universität gestartet. Man kann es auch so nennen: Studenten helfen Menschen in Not.

Wir sind nur Studenten aus unterschiedlichen Ländern und Kulturen, und trotzdem sind wir

ein Team. Keiner von uns hat das erlebt bzw. wir haben es nicht mitbekommen als es uns traf,

wir waren noch klein. Wir sind die Studenten der EBS Universität, die Malteser Beihilfe

geleistet haben, um ein Stück ihrer Verantwortung zu übernehmen und sie zu entlasten. Wir

können und dürfen die Verantwortung nicht auf andere schieben. Jeder ist von dieser Krise

betroffen, obwohl der Ursprung dieser Krise über 3.000 Kilometer weit entfernt liegt. Jeder

einzelne kann seinen Beitrag dafür leisten, auch wenn es nur eine Stunde in der Woche ist.

Wir sind in dem Projekt mit Offenheit gegenüber ihnen gestartet. Denn wir haben vom ersten

Projekt mitgenommen, dass gerade einige von ihnen, obwohl sie Schlimmes hinter sich hatten,

sich öffnen, wenn man es auch tut. Deshalb war uns wichtig, besonders darauf zu achten, dass

wir das Projekt von Beginn an mit großer Offenheit und Freundlichkeit angehen. Angesichts

der Tatsache, dass diese Menschen ihre Existenz verloren und weder Hoffnung noch

Orientierung für die Zukunft haben, ist es vonnöten, dass wir die Initiative ergreifen. Wir, ob

Student, Erzieher, Hausfrau, Arbeitnehmer oder Arbeitgeber müssen diese Personen die

Grundlagen einer neuen Zukunft ermöglichen. Durch Teamwork aller Beteiligten. In diesem

Semester haben wir schmerzlich sehen müssen, wie es immer noch diejenigen gibt, die

„Flüchtlingen“ keine Wohnungen vermieten oder keinen Job geben wollen. Gerade diese

Personen müssen wir mit unserem Teamwork und der Gastfreundlichkeit als Teil einer neuen

deutschen Tugend überzeugen. Keine von denen, die gegen die Flüchtlinge sind, haben jetzt

weniger zu essen oder weniger Geld. Sie sind nur wütend über den Umstand, dass sie nicht

mehr Geld oder zu essen bekommen und nehmen fälschlicherweise an, dass die Anwesenheit

der „Flüchtlinge“ damit etwas zu tun hätten. Ihre Wut ist vielmehr Frustration, nicht das neuste

Auto zu fahren oder das größte Haus zu haben. Deshalb sind sie gegen unser Helfen. Aber

braucht man Reichtum um glücklich zu werden? Würden diese Menschen dieselbe Haltung zu

Reichtum haben, wenn sie wie ich jemanden wie Ahmad kennenlernen würden? Das wäre

unvorstellbar. Keiner von den „Flüchtlingen“ ist reich, und doch sind viele von ihnen glücklich,

wie Ahmad. Sie wissen nun umso mehr, dass es nicht Reichtum ist, dass sie glücklich macht,

sondern ihre Familien und ihre Mitmenschen. Unsere Bemühungen, um ihnen zu helfen,

werden diese Menschen noch glücklicher machen, obwohl sie kein Reichtum haben.

Das Projekt zeigte mir, dass Reichtum mich nie glücklich machen wird und dass Teamwork in

unserem Leben essenziell ist, um Fortschritt zu schaffen. Wir leben in einer Welt, die ohne

Teamwork nicht wiederzuerkennen wäre. Das Haus in dem wir leben, haben wir durch

Teamwork gebaut. Einzeln wäre es viel zu schwer gewesen. Unser Auto wurde durch die

Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Menschen gebaut und die Flüchtlingskrise wird durch

Zusammenarbeit mit Menschen aus verschiedenen Ländern und Kulturen bewältigt werden.

BSCSocioCulturalImpact«DoIt!»

FallTerm2016

EssayRefugeesatLorch

AymericBOURDON24132881SubmissionDate:31stDecember2016Submittedto:Dr.MarcusKreikebaum

SCIEssay

This semester EBS offered us the opportunity to take part in several socio-

culturalprojects,IdecidedtointegratetheRefugeesProgramtakingplaceinLorch.This

projectaimedatprovidinghelpandsupporttorefugeescomingfromdifferentcountries

suchasSyriaorAfghanistan…IdecidedtochoosethisprojectbecauseIhavealways

beenwillingtohelpotherpeopleandbecauserefugeescrisisisaveryactualtopic,which

hasbeendiscussednumeroustimesinmedias.Then,thisprojectwastheopportunity

formetomeetsomeofthembymyselftogettheirthoughtswithoutanyintermediary

and make my own opinion. In the end, forced me to question myself about some

certitudeIhad.

Idecidedtostructurethisessayaroundthepolitical,ethicalandphilosophicalaspects.

Indeed, as a fighter pilot for the French Air Force my father went several times in

Afghanistan,LybiaandmorerecentlySyriatofightjihadisminthesecountries.Mostthe

time,Iconsideredtheoccidentalforcesoperatinginthesecountriesas“thegoodguys”,

however facingrefugeescoming fromthesecountries forcedmetoquestionmyself.

Whatdotheythinkofus?Howdotheyseeourinterventionintheircountries?What

aretheylookingforhereinoccident?

During this project, I met and bounded strongly with two young men,

Mohammed and Ahmed coming respectively from Afghanistan and Syria. The

experienceofmeetingthesetwopeopleisprobablywhatshookmethemost.Before

startingtheprogram,IwasawareIwillhavetofacepeoplefromthesecountriesand

Imightfacesomeuncomfortablesituation.However,Iheavilyunderestimatehow

muchIwouldfeelsometimes.

AsIpreviouslysaidinmyjournal,thePictionarygameweplayedseveraltimesat

Lorch,isaverypowerfultooltoexpressfeelingsorperspective.WhenIdecidedto

drawa jetplane, Ididn’tanticipateatallAhmed’sanswerwhichwas“war”.This

answertriggeredsomethinginmeandIdecidedtotalkwithhimafterwards.Arewe

theincarnationofwar?Ismyfatherdoingtherightthing?Ishethepersonification

ofwar?Isawhimmanytimescomingbackhomedisturbedandaskinghimselfthe

samequestion.Atthistime,andforthefirsttimeinmylife,Iwasfeelingashamed

ofwhatmyfatheris.

Asmostofusknow,whatishappeningnowismiddle-eastandspeciallyinSyriaisa

verycomplexconflictopposing4mainsforces:thepro-Assad,therebelswhowant

to create a new and more democratic government, IS (Islamic State) using the

conflicttoincreaseitsinfluence,andtheKurdsfightingfortheindependenceofthe

Kurdistan. Inthisconflict,theoccidentalcoalition(USA,France,UK…)supportthe

rebels, however, during war nobody’s completely white, and collateral damages

happen.

My first thoughtswere that refugees running away fromwar, are running away

becausetheydon’tbelieveinthiswarandwantabetterlifethatoccidentcanoffer.

However,Ahmedexplainedmethatmostoftherefugeesbelieveinthisfight,they

aremostlyrunningawayfromAssad’sregimeandISbutsupporttherebelcauseas

the occidental coalition. Despite assimilating jet planes to war, occidental

interventionwasseenpositively.Hedoesn’tseeustheoccidentalcountryinterfering

withhishomepoliticbutasanallyimpersonatingfreedom,offeringapotentialbut

temporarysolution. Indeed,on thecontraryofwhatsomemediasorpeoplesay,

refugeesarenotlookingforabetterlifeinoccidenttotakeadvantageofthesystem,

mostofthemdreamofgoingbacktotheirhomecountry.However,occidentoffers

afreedomtheyaredeniedintheircountry,thisisthereasonoftheirescape.

Freedomisaveryabstractconceptthatweusedtoconsiderasacquiredinoccident,

however this conflicts shows us that it’s not, and this probably one of themost

important lessonI learnedduringmyexchangeswithAhmedorMohammed.You

mustfightforiteveryday,andwhenyouhavethechancetoenjoyit,youneedto

beawareofit.

Toconclude,despitebeingsometimesverydisturbingfromanemotional

perspective,thisexperiencewiththerefugeesinLorchwasveryinstructiveand

satisfying.Iwouldn’thavechangedforanyotherproject.IamgratefulforwhatI

learnedthankstotheseseveralexchanges,Ihavetoadmitthatintheend,I

probablylearntmorefromthemthanwhatIexpected.

Thisexperiencehelpedmetounderstandbetteroneofthemostimportantcurrent

geopolitical problem, the refugee crisis and its environment. Furthermore,

concerningtheroleoccidentalcountriesplayintheseconflictsandbyextensionthe

rolemyfatherplayed,thereisprobablyno“goodguys”butyouneedtofightfor

whatyoubelievein.

Thisexperiencewasalsoalessonoflife,aboutfreedomandhappiness.Indeed,from

theirperspective,happinesscomesfromoneofthemostimmaterialthingbutmost

importantthingintheworld:freedom.Thisissomethingwetendtoforgetinour

countryandthatIwouldliketopromoteafterthisexperience:happinessisatour

fingertipswhenyouarefree.

Essay

Fall term 2016

Refugee Project – Experiences at LorchName: Marius Diedrich (24032716) Address: Am Erntebringer 2, 65366 Geisenheim Submitted to: Dr. Marcus Kreikebaum Submission Date: 31.12.2016

The refugee crisis was one of last year’s central topics and will change our demographic and cultural situation significantly. Although the immigration offers opportunities for Germany, many people are scared and have prejudices against the refugees. Therefore, I decided to join the EBS refugee project, in order to get a deeper understanding of the people and their background as well as support them in their new situation. During the project we worked in a refugee camp located in Lorch. The people live in old military barracks and the first time we met together with the whole team I felt quiet uncomfortable as it is a depressing place and you don’t feel welcomed. Furthermore, the place is quiet isolated and its very dark in the evening due to a limited number of lanterns. However, I was quiet impressed by the refugees that I met on the first day at Lorch. They were very open minded and interested in our project. It stood out that most of them spoke good German although they haven’t been here for a quiet long time which I found remarkable. Another person that we got to know the first day is Nuran Özdemir. She is a refugee coordinator working for the Malteser and acts as a contact person for any kind of inquiries or problems regarding the refugee camp. Coming from turkey herself and having worked in the local bakery she also connects the refugees and the community of Lorch. She is a very charismatic person and a real power woman who supported us during our whole project. During a first discussion round with Mr. Kreikebaum and Mrs. Özdemir, we figured out the main problems which the refugees are facing and thought about ways on how we can support them. We formed different teams, each of which had a different area of responsibility. I took the lead of the housing team which consisted of 5 other students and myself. Our goal was it to support the refugees in finding an appropriate accommodation outside the refugee camp which is an important task as some refugees need to leave the camp after a certain amount of time in order to be able to stay in Germany. During the project we hang-up lists at Lorch in which the refugees could sign-in if they are looking for an accommodation. However, even though we collected many requests, our task turned out to be quite a challenge for multiple reasons. First of all, most of the landlords are not willing to rent out their apartments to refugees because they are scared or don’t feel comfortable doing it. An impression that I kept in mind was when a landlord told me that he is not willing to rent out his apartment to “terrorists”. I believe that more awareness needs to be raised to overcome those prejudices. Secondly it was hard for us to find accommodations due to political issues. A refugee needs a certain status in order to rent a flat on his own, otherwise the Job Center will decline the request to pay for the accommodation. As most of the refugees don’t even know if they have this status, it was difficult for us to figure out if we can already start with the search or not. Finally, I was very shocked how uncooperative the Job Center is when they receive requests about refugees. It took us dozens of calls to ask for the budget that refugees have available for their rent in certain areas as they always claimed not to be responsible or even hang up the phone. This was a really frustrating experience but didn’t kept us from continue trying. In the next semester, the housing team and myself will continue our work and I hope that we will be able to find suitable accommodations for as many refugees as possible. During the project time we went to Lorch on a weekly basis. At the beginning I still felt a bit uncomfortable as it was a completely new situation for me and I wasn’t sure whether the refugees are really interested in our support. However, it became clear that my doubts were unjustified and that the refugees were really happy to meet us. During my time in Lorch I got into contact with many different persons and it was very interesting to listen to their stories and backgrounds. One very remarkable conversation that really bothered me was with Ali, a Syrian refugee who lives in Lorch for around a year now. He told me that he fled from Syria after his wife and two children were killed during a bomb attack. Traveling the route over the Mediterranean See, he described how hard and dangerous his trip to Germany was and that he often had doubt if he would ever arrive. Afterwards, I asked him where he took the power to flee across multiple countries after having lost the most important persons in his life. It was a

quiet emotional conversation and he told me that it has been the toughest time of his life but that he believes that one should never give up and that life is worth living. I was really impressed by his attitude and learned from this conversation that one should try to look forward and not give up. Another refugee that I got to know and to who I had quiet close contact to is Mohammad, a 47-year-old Syrian. He is a painter and fled from Syria together with his family. What I found quiet remarkable is that he told me that even though he isn’t together with his wife anymore, they fled together in order to bring themselves and especially their daughter safely to Germany. His experience and emotions are reflected in his paintings which he loved to show us during our time in Lorch (see appendix – picture 3). Mohammad is a really warm-hearted person and I was really impressed by his paintings which often focused on the topic of war and pain. Furthermore, we discussed the situation about the refugee crisis in Germany and he told me that he is really sad that so many people are scared and believe that the refugees are responsible for bringing the terror of the Islamic State to Germany. His point of view made me think about how the refugees are accepted by large parts of the German population and I believe that a problem is that many of them are stereotyped. When talking about these people most Germans refer to them by “the refugees” which is a mistake in my opinion as all refugees that I got to know are completely different persons with own believes and opinions. It is therefore important to be open-minded and to form an own opinion. A third refugee who really impressed me during the project was a twelve years old boy who I got to know when my team and me participated in the child care at Lorch. He told me that his mother was shot in front of his eyes in Syria, which really shocked me in the first place because this must be the worst experience that a child can encounter. I was impressed but also confused at the same time because he was able to talk about such an event quiet unemotional. This made me think about if he was maybe suffering from a posttraumatic stress disorder. I believe that it is necessary to offer more psychological assistance to the refugees, as many of them have encountered potential traumatic experiences. This is a topic which I would like to bring up during the next semester as I believe that such an assistance is from vital importance. In conclusion the refugee project was a great success and I believe that our whole team really made a change. It showed me how privileged we live in Germany and how lucky most of us are to never have encountered such a terrible war. All refugees that I met during my time in Lorch were extremely thankful for our support and I believe that it is important to help those people to build up a new life. I look forward to continue the project next semester and hope that we are able to help the refugees to make the next step into their new life.

/ Friends …

FinalEssay/MalikFredericBriki/studentnumber:24032708/31.12.2016

My final essay is about the trip to Wiesbaden, which was held on the 04th of November 2016.

Based on this trip, I would like to talk about my learning with the people from Lorch.

Furthermore, I would like to mention my learnings from the Malteser and about what I learned

about myself. Using this trip as an example, I would like to interpret and transfer my

experiences.

First, I would like to give a short overview about this trip with agenda provided. Our original

idea was to take our two Syrian friends from Lorch to a football match of the German

Bundesliga. However, we could not compromise an available date for all of us to attend the

match. Therefore, we decided to do a half day trip to Wiesbaden with them. Me and two friends

from EBS invited our two Syrian friends for a lunch in a typical oriental (Arabic) store.

Afterwards, we went grocery shopping. Finally, we did a short city tour before heading back to

Lorch. The feedback from our two Syrian friends was very impressive. They enjoyed a lot

during the trip and were very thankful and happy obviously.

This thankfulness and hospitality from them lead to my first learning effect from the people. I

think it is very important sometimes to just keep silent and be happy with my current situation

and living standard. This trip showed me how happy people can be if they have the chance to

experience for our living standard apparently small gifts, like this trip.

Furthermore, I learned from them how to deal with difficult situation and hide to emotional

feeling in front of others. My two friends experienced both individually very hard fates. Hani

who is 29 years old is originally from Daraa in the south west of Syria. A city that is extremely

destroyed from the war and currently occupied mostly by the ISIS fighters. He came to

Germany nearly 2 years ago. He started his long way alone, leaving his family in a dangerous

situation, to help them in the future. His brother is currently working in factory in Turkey under

horrible conditions and the rest of his family escaped just some weeks ago from Syria, in a very

dangerous night escape. They needed to stitch some Turkish soldiers in order to escape.

Achmed who is just 18 years old is originally from Damaskus, one of the most well known

cities when hearing about the Syria war. He came to Germany nearly 2 years ago as well. He

has some cousins and uncles in Germany as well but doesn’t have a lot contact with them. He

is already married in Syria and wishes to bring his 17 year old wife to Germany as soon as

possible. Taking those two very hard fates in comparison with the long escape way by feet in

consideration I would not be sure if I can keep up a positive mindset and mood. I admire them

for their optimistic and brave acting. This is definitely one key learning effect.

FinalEssay/MalikFredericBriki/studentnumber:24032708/31.12.2016

Moreover, I certainly learnt some interpersonal communication skills from them. For instance,

to interact in a very understandable and practical way to communicate with people who I have

never met or talked. The lunch with two Syrian friends in Wiesbaden can related to this. During

the lunch, Hani and Achmed have already made friends with the waiters from the restaurant

after a very short time. I was very impressed by their interaction skills and from this I can

improve my future actions.

Apart from that, I have learnt more and improved my Arabic from them. I have basic Arabic

knowledge due to my family’s background. While checking after their German exercises, they

taught me more about the Arabic language and culture in return. This experience was very

unique and effective in terms of my learning efforts.

In addition, I learnt a high degree of comradeship from them. The two Syrian did not know

each other before they came to Germany. However, since they are here, they got along so well

and became best friends, they always share same experiences and thoughts. This has shown to

me that how those negatives and painful experiences have made them stick together and literally

share their last piece of bread.

To sum up, I learnt from them to always keep a positive thought about the future. They are

confronted with negative influences and rejections, for example from job applications everyday.

However, they are still very positive and thankful for they are having now. I wish as well to

think more in an optimistic way like they do.

Second, I learnt a lot from the Malteser staffs as well. They were very friendly and helpful and

gave so many advices and assistants for me as a student coming there. Hereby, I would like to

specifically mentioned Mrs. Özdemir, one of the officers, she did not mind to spend longer time

on explaining to me clearly about the refugee laws and policies. She made me have a better

understanding on the procedures and requirements for the refugees in Germany. Besides, she

shared to me some of the boundaries and difficulties of refugees, both living inside and outside

of the refugee camp. Lastly, from the way the Malteser staffs work has made me to appreciate

more about these kind of organizations. Without their efforts on helping the refugees, the

situation of the refugee camp would not be the same as what I saw today, could have been a lot

more chaotic.

Third, I learned a lot about myself. I was able to apply some of my core strengths for the refugee

project. First, I used my strength to listen because every refugee has their own background and

problems. Therefore, it is essential to listen every single of them carefully. In the next steps, I

FinalEssay/MalikFredericBriki/studentnumber:24032708/31.12.2016

used my strengths to focus on each individual and analyze their current situation to further

achieve a substantial result. Afterwards, I organized the unclear situation and create a roadmap

how to further continue. Finally, I got into the position, after clarifying each strengths, values

and interests to negotiate which job is best for them in order to start their own life out of the

camp.

Moreover, the refugee project gave me the real opportunity to have insights in a practical way

about the refugee crisis in Germany. This is very useful for myself in order to built a well

elaborated opinion about the whole situation. As soon as many right-oriented parties gain votes

in Germany I believe it is essential to have good arguments in order to cope with them.

Besides, I learned about myself how much fun and joy the work with the two Syrian friends

made for me. I enjoyed every meeting in Lorch and it was a very nice contrast for the daily life

at EBS for me.

As a final reflection I can say that I kept three essential. I learned to be more patient with

different people and I think I think I developed a good feeling when to listen more to the people

and when to be more active. Furthermore, I further improved my communication skills. The

continuous language exchange gave me the opportunity to learn a language in a very practical

way with a lot of happiness. Lastly, I learned to appreciate more my current life standard. For

my generation who grew up in a safe environment in Germany it is very difficult to understand

the feelings and thoughts from people escaping from a war region to a completely new

environment. I believe after this project I am able to understand better the stress and fears of

my Syrian friends. I hope the war comes to an end soon and more people have the opportunity

to life in a safe environment.

 

EBS Business School

EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht

SCI Individual Projects Fall Term 2016

SCI Essay: Refugees

Name (Matriculation-No.): Pierre-Louis Zumbihl (n°24132926)

Submitted to: Prof. Dr. Marcus Kreikebaum

Submission Date: 31.12.2016

 

Introduction

Thanks to the SCI course and Mr. Kreikebaum because during this semester I

had the opportunity to invest some of my time in a humanitarian aid. I am convinced

that it is necessary to ask students from the European Business School to have an

experience for this kind of actions. It is not something common to do such activities in

business school and I am sure that it is essential in all type of schools and universities to

open the mind of students. Understand humanitarian aid as helping old people, disable

and refugees is necessary to develop cultural values and also analyzing social

consequences. Concerning my choice I wanted to help the refugees because it was

something that was important in my but also to realize exactly what was going on. Since

5 years, they suffer from a horrible situation in their country and do not have the choice

to leave it. I wanted to ask myself, how would I react if it were my case? How do they

find all these strengths to battle this situation? How can we help them to be more

adapted to Germany and help them to give some happiness? In this paper I am going to

explain a discussion and a friendship that I had during my experience at Lorch.

Furthermore, I will also describe what I gained from this experience and what I am

going to do after this involvement.

 

The 24th November we had a great party at Lorch with many refugees and many

students. It was incredible all the efforts made by both of them to enjoy this night. We

played all together around a dinner made by the students, the professor and the refugees.

It was a magical moment to see all of these smiles in the face of everyone. I really learn

something that night.

Every week it was a pleasure to come to Lorch to visit the refugees. It was a

time to disconnect to the typical courses that I have at EBS and give some of my time to

the refugees. At the beginning I was a bit anxious to go there because I never had

contact with refugees before and I did not know how I would react. I was scared to be

sad and touched because of what the media is showing us through Internet and the

television. However I was really surprised about my thoughts before coming to Lorch

and what I actually discovered there. They were so welcoming and happy to meet some

students. Once, I met Mohammad, he is a Syrian. He was really passionate by the

painting. He shows me all of his work and I was surprised by his inspiration. We

discussed many times together. Every week he showed me his works. All of his painting

expressed a truth emotion. My friend and I decided to call him “Picasso” as a nickname.

Mohammad is a really sensitive person. After several weeks we developed a nice

relationship and we had some deep conversations together. I always wanted to know

what really happened in Syria and not my thoughts through the media. However, I never

asked one of the refugees during the semester to explain me something. I always wanted

to know it if they wanted to discuss about the situation in their countries and their life

stories. By the time he was more willing to express his feelings and discuss about his

life story. I was really impressed about his strengths because he explained me some

parts of his story before coming to Europe with an absolute calm. However, I saw that

there were still some nostalgia and some pain which is normal after what they lived.

After this discussion it was important for me to think about how and what can I do to

for him. Following few weeks I started to know them well and I developed a better

relationship with everyone but even more with Mohammad. We discussed further about

our life in Germany and how it was going for us. We saw that our presence helped them

to be more integrated. I also saw Mohammed more and more integrated into the group

of refugees and with the student. One of the last weeks I received a present from

Mohammad, it was drawings’ graffiti with my nickname (Appendix). I was really

touched about his gift. It was for me an emotional moment. The week after I also

wanted to offer him something typical from my region as a present to thank him for the

 

beautiful present that he offered me. He was also touched by this gesture. I hope I will

still have contact with him and with the other, as they are all a good persons.

What I learn is that we do not need a lot to make people happy. I also saw that

even with if we have a different culture we have a lot of respect each other. It was

important for me to show my cultural values and to see and understand their cultural

values. During all my experience I was happy to speak German, communication is a

very important aspect and I wanted to help them to improve this language. It is

necessary for us to communicate in German and it was a good opportunity for me to

learn and to practice. It was also a good opportunity for them in order to be more

adapted to the country. Using an inquiry method was appropriate to understand them by

asking questions. My leadership style is more relations oriented and that was a benefit

because I like supporting people and project, and also developing people. It was

interesting to use this behavior to help the refugees to get more integrated. It was

interesting for my point of view to see how to improve it. This experience in term of

leadership was positive for career ambitions. I would like to work as a strategic

manager.

 

Conclusion

I am an open-minded person and when I had the opportunity to be in contact and

help the refugees I did not hesitate one second. However this experience shows me

different things that I did not know. I already know that it is important to give a lot from

you and it is also important to take a lot from the other. Nevertheless, taking from the

other was a benefit for me to learn, improve and understand. I learnt that cultural values

are here to be shared. As I said before I improved my communications skills and my

leadership skills. I understand that it is not because they are refugees that they are

different than us. They just wanted to leave the horror that they are suffering in their

countries. Our mission is to help and integrate them but also to give them a better life as

they had before this atrocity. This experience changed my life and I will never forget it.

I will keep continuing to help as much as possible people who need it because I never

know when I will really need it and I will be more than happy to receive help from

someone else.

/Women …

Feelingsaboutthissemester'sproject:

During a few months, I had the opportunity to visit a camp for refugees every

week in Lorch, Germany (Hessen). One of the reasons why I chose this project

amongst others is that I was expecting an important cultural shock; I was expecting to

learn a lot about a new culture with different habits. Also, I have always been

"fascinated" by the travel and the braveness of those people crossing borders and

traveling the world, hoping for a better future.

Then, I was happy to be able to help them and I couldn't wait meeting them.

Our team composed with M. Kreikebaum and other EBS students had a lot of projects

such as housing, job search, CV writing, teaching-learning German, using the

"computer room" from the Malteser center, etc. At first, I was a bit disappointed that

the projects took long time to get implemented and that we couldn't meet refugees for

a while.

After meeting refugees several time, I realized they don't only need to find

jobs and houses. This is one of my biggest finding and learning about this experience!

Parallel with getting out of the camp, they need to be entertained. The camp is not

closed but still they can't really move around and travel the region. Therefore, most of

the refugees study German in the morning and have a whole free afternoon and

evening. Some of them are in the camp for several months, which makes a lot of

afternoons and evenings. I realized that after all the difficulties they had to travel

Europe and now feeling lonely here in Germany, our presence is already a lot for their

"mental health" and morale. Just by being there, laughing, playing games together, we

could entertain them, make them laugh and forget about everything during two hours.

I noticed a very heterogeneous group of people coming to our weekly

meetings: almost all of the attendees are men but they have various education level,

family situations, language skills, etc. One of my biggest fears was communication:

both the refugees and us, French people studying in EBS have medium or low level of

German. I was afraid that I couldn't communicate with them. It was sometimes the

case, but it was never a problem. I had many things to tell them, but I couldn't express

it in German or they couldn't understand what I mean. Therefore, I learned to "speak

simple" in German; to use body language, and I even discovered that speaking is not

necessary. Through simple signs, simple eyes-looks, smiles, we were able to makes

jokes, and understand each other enough to have a lot of fun. Being happy with very

simple things! To my surprise, this "vocabulary" is almost not different between our

cultures. This should be an argument against populism: first of all refugees are no

mean people of course, but also they react to the same things, which proves it is not

complicate to understand each other. I was for instance impressed by Abdelaziz’s (a

young kid attending our meetings) level of German after only a few months in the

country.

Of course taking care of refugees is not easy for the government; especially

adults, but those children are the future of Germany; probably Europe: they integrate

themselves very easily, learn languages quickly, they are ready to give their best at

work and their diverse origins are a strength in every domain.

Thanks to the past few months, I learned that the "refugees crisis" is simpler to

solve than I expected. Also, everyone can contribute to their integration: tasks go

from basic fun to complicate job-search or housing. Also, I learned that everyone can

friend anyone, and that friendship does not require long dialogs.

Recommendationsfornextsemester'sproject

Situationofwomeninthecamp

I noticed that almost no woman came to our meetings during this semester.

Most of them are shy and afraid to come to such meetings. We could remark this

problem even more during the party, where they have been very shy. To me, it's an

important problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible. Women deserve to

have their daily distraction as much as men who attend our meetings. By the way,

there are a lot of female students coming with us! No reason not to mix up.

After thinking about their culture, and using the few things I know about their

habits; I suggest women-only sessions at Lorch (in a first phase). Female students

could meet up with female refugees and behave the same as during regular meetings

(men will be refused at the entrance of the room). It could be held regularly (e.g.

every Tuesday, women-only session at Lorch!). Some simple projects could be done

with female, to create team spirit, and especially mutual trust! (Between refugees and

students: they have to feel that we're here to help them and entertain them, that it

could be nice for them to come to the meeting again, etc.). After building this

relationship, we could mix females and males progressively (for example at a party,

as we did last semester). In the long term, the objective is to have men and women

discussing with students in the room at the same time, with no ambiguity.

AdayoutinWiesbaden

Coming back to the problem I announced in the first part, I think it would be

nice that our friends go on a small tour of Rüdesheim (Or even Wiesbaden, if

possible). Indeed, they feel quite lonely and isolated in the camp and in Lorch. Some

of them are living there for months and never had the opportunity to visit those cities.

I'm pretty sure they would be interested in visiting the region where they live. It

would also be a bridge between them and German culture and German history.

Furthermore, Rüdesheim and Wiesbaden are beautiful cities that everyone would

love. This trip could be arranged after managing to mix up male and female refugees,

so that no one feels rejected, and everyone may enjoy the outing.

German Austauschpartner?

As I was still in middle-school/high-school, I had a German correspondent

twice. It helped me improving my German skills a lot! And it was also my first step to

discover the culture in depth. This inspired me for our project with the refugees. I

suggest we create a platform to link refugees with German students (from high school

to University) enabling them to communicate through emails, Facebook or Whatsapp.

For example, I could contact local schools/universities and ask them if they would

like to participate in this project. I could create an email address specifically dedicated

to this. The schools would then provide the email address to the students, who will

send emails to introduce themselves. I will find a refugee who could be interested by

this profile, and give him the German's address. Our friend could then make the first

step and email the German student.

It would be a fantastic way for them to discover German culture (facilitating their

integration), improving their language skills, and finally, raise their interest in the

country and overall happiness. I'm sure it would be useful for German students as

well.

We should still discuss whether we choose students from Hessen or whole Germany

(e.g. if we want them to meet after a certain number of emails - which could be nice-;

they have to be in Hessen).

SCI Essay

Do it !

Essay – Do it at Lorch

Submitted by: Cecile Hemery

Matriculation Number: 24132945

Submitted to: Dr. Markus Kreikebaum

Submission Date: 31st of December 2016

SCI Essay – Do it at Lorch 1

Thanks to the SCI project in EBS I have been able to get in touch and actually

contribute to make the life of some refugees in Lorch a bit better. I have always

been into social projects, I started getting engaged in social associations when I

was 15 years old. My first experience ever even though I'm French, was actually

in Germany in a hospice. I was sincerely looking forward this experience with the

refugees. However on my first day I felt pretty shy and quite afraid to ask any

question regarding their past life. I was afraid to hurt them but asking the wrong

question, to make them remember painful memories, or to perturb their moral by

wearing or saying something they would judge inappropriate.

For some obvious reason I was expecting to meet rather some sad persons,

feeling guilty and sad for leaving their home and families, or some angry persons,

full of hate and despair because no one is being able to stop this massacre, angry

against themselves because they can't do anything except running away and

extremely frustrated because of racism they probably have to face every day.

However the people I have met there didn't give me this impression at all. They

were full of life, free spirits playing the brightest smiles to whoever was able to

see it, playful and joyful persons simply enjoying the present. I am not saying that

they weren't sad or angry, that would be insulting them. What I'm saying is that

those people have more courage than anyone. No matter the situation they have

to face in Germany regarding racism and discrimination they would just keep

smiling. They would smile so bright that their tears would barely be visible. In the

same way, they hear about violence and death in their countries every day. Every

single day their home and people are being massacred but they keep laughing,

laughing so hard and loud that we can barely hear them crying. They teach peace,

love and patience to whoever will be willing to listen to them. It was really inspiring

and empowering for me to meet such amazing people.

I loved spending some time with them, playing with them and listening to them.

When I thought that they wouldn't be willing to share any of their stories or past

memories I have been happily surprised. Even though our first meetings were a

bit shy they get used to us quite quickly and after a few meetings they started

sharing their stories and telling us more and more memories and habits they had

back to their country. For some of them it was even a duty.

The most touching stories are the ones of their travel to get to Germany. Many

people say that the refugees in Lorch are the richest of their countries and that

SCI Essay – Do it at Lorch 2

they haven't faced or seen much before coming to Germany. Which is false for

most of them. Even though some families got the opportunity to come all together

to Germany it's sadly not the case for most of them. Many have been separated

during the selection process to get into Germany, some have been left behind,

and some other only managed to get themselves out, hoping for a new life and

the possibility to send money to their families. Refugees in Lorch are indeed lucky

in comparison to most refugees in Europe and to the people who just couldn't

escape. But God only knows what they had to face on the way to here. Most of

them couldn't bring much and had to do all the way to Germany by boat.

Sometimes words were too painful so people with the best drawing skills were

painting the pictures that were stuck in their head. Among all of them, the one

with the best drawing skills is Muhammeid Kheir that many of us named Picasso.

One of his painting got me strongly. On the drawing we could see a small boat

with many men, women and children in it. On one side the boat was chased by

the police forces and on the other one it was attacked by the rebels. This last boat

was very scary, red and full of people with machine guns. The other boat was a

bit less scary and apparently ended up helping them. The boat in the middle was

full of refugees and we could see a few children in their Moms arms. Sadly the

weather was so terrific that they froze to death and when everybody thought the

children were sleeping peacefully, they were actually dead. While telling me the

story of his painting I could clearly see some tears coming up in his eyes but he

was smiling. He really was and at this point I couldn't understand why even

though the reason was pretty obvious. That was their way of fighting, and even

more than that. I felt like if they were not smiling they would just break apart. Even

though their smiles and laughs were so bright, the sadness and pain behind was

just as real as their joy. I think those people know better than anyone how to enjoy

the present, which is probably why they looked so happy and joyful whenever we

came to spend some time with them.

I was honestly enjoying my time with the people coming to us on Wednesday, I

think we managed to build a pretty strong group together. However something

stroke me at a point. It had been almost two months since we started coming to

Lorch every week but we still haven't seen any women. We had a teen joining the

meetings from time to time but as soon as too many men were entering the place

she would just vanish in a second. Literally. Her name was Somayeh and when

SCI Essay – Do it at Lorch 3

our French activities started bringing more people on Wednesdays she would just

stop coming. A few weeks later I met the mother of the four children family. She

came because her husband called her so she could understand what I would say

to her in English and then be able to translate to him. She left the room as soon

as our discussion ended. Then I realized that women seemed to be afraid of

coming in. I met the wife again in the corridor during the party. She was with a

friend of her and stopped to have a cute talk with me. I jumped on the occasion

to invite her to join us at the party saying that we had great food, drinks and music.

They both declined politely saying they already had dinner and that they were

tired. I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable so I didn't insist much. I met

them a second time in the corridor and let them know that they were still very

welcome to the party, they laugh to see me so happy to invite them and after

declining again finally showed up at the door a few minutes later. I didn't want to

insist more than I already did and stayed a bit further to observe them. They

stayed at the door a few minutes, grabbing each other quite strongly. They were

definitely afraid to go in. I discreetly went to the other French girls around and ask

them to get closer to the entrance so they wouldn't feel so afraid to come in.

Finally one of the husband noticed them and went to them.

After a quick discussion still at the entrance they finally get into the room, the wife

following closely her husband while her friend was literally sticked to her, grabbing

her arm strongly. The two women both served themselves a full plate, they

obviously didn't have diner yet. I tried to be stay and joke won't them as much as

possible to make them feel comfortable and the husband stayed close to them

almost all along. The only time he left was when the women were surrounded by

the children.

As a child of Arabic myself I know more than a bit about the Arabic culture. In

Arabic countries it is cultural to separate men and women. The actual political

and pseudo religious condition in Arabic countries is playing a great part in this

cultural habit but not only. It's a well-known fact that Oriental countries have a

very different vision of women and how their place in society. In addition to this

they have to be apart from men, there are some places they can't go to and most

of the time they have to ask for their husband's permission before going

anywhere. So consequently a women has no place in room full of men no matter

where it is. Whether it's in Germany or in Syria the household's rules are the

SCI Essay – Do it at Lorch 4

same. This is something I want to improve next semester. We won’t be able to

change their mores and beliefs and I think that this is not something we should

do since their cultural heritage is probably all they have left. But we can instore

some special days and time especially for women so they won’t feel neglected or

anything. Maybe later on we could organize an activity mixing both gender but it

would probably take some time.

I have learned a lot this semester and I am certain it will continue this way. I want

all of them to feel welcome and happy in Germany, so I will do my best to help

them and make their life as good and peaceful as I can. I am sincerely looking

forward the next semester, I hope that together we will be able to make greater

things for them.

Essay of service experiences

Thomas Pogoretschnik

Fall Term 2016 SCI Project “Support of refugees in sports clubs” Instructor: Dr. Marcus Kreikebaum

Refugees and integration. Two words, which are very strongly linked with the time we are

living in. Everyday papers write stories about politicians, who are changing the law and

therefore trying to improve the integration of refugees within Germany. But we also hear

stories about terrible terroristic or criminal actions, committed by refugees or the Islamic

state, which is trying to “destroy the western world” by using the willingness of Europe to

receive asylum-seekers. Therefore, people are scared. People are scared because they connect

the headlines in the media with the refugees and generalize them. In Europe, populist parties

like the AFD in Germany receive strong encouragement from scared people, because these

parties promote the fear of the people even more by also generalizing foreigners and refugees

and put them unjustified in bad light.

The SCI project “Support of refugees in sports clubs” as part of our BSc General

Management program dealt with the issue of integration of refugees and what sports clubs can

do to improve this integration. Due to the location of our university, we concentrated on clubs

in the Rheingau area. Our task was to interview several sports clubs via questionnaires to find

out whether and how they recognize the issue of integration of refugees in their clubs.

Furthermore, we were asked to interview refugees directly and personally.

According the political situation in Germany, this topic is very up-to-date and it was very

interesting to see how integration is done. Sport clubs are a very good starting point for

refugees who are willing to integrate into Germany. Within these clubs they can get in touch

with people and get to know the country better. The people of sports clubs are very open-

minded concerning refugees because they know about the discussion on the political stage

and they are proud when they can do their part when it comes to integration.

I got in touch with a refugee from Syria in a sport club and he told me how this sport activity

helps him to organize his life here in Germany. He doesn’t join the club just because of the

sport, he did it because he wants to know more about the country he is living right now and

therefore he had to get in touch with people. He saw no other possibility then sport to do so,

because people are very aware of refugees and not very sociable regarding refugees. Because

he also has no chance to get a job to meet people, he joins the sports club. At the beginning, it

was very hard, because he didn’t spoke the language and was kind of a stranger, but the

passion for sports of him and the people within the club wash all these obstacles away. Due to

his sport activities and the entry into the sports club, he now has the feeling of belonging to

Germany. He is in Germany now for half a year and his language skills concerning his time in

Germany is impressive.

The case of this Syrian refugee is a perfect example of integration. He is willing to know the

country better and do something for it. Nevertheless, there are some refugees who are not

willing or even able to integrate that good because of, for example their religion. I

interviewed another refugee from Afghanistan, who had major problems in his sports club

because of his religion and ethic. His wife, for example was not even able to participate in a

sports club because she must wear a full-body-dress because of her religion but this was not

accepted by the sports club. So, for female it is very hard to integrate just because of their

religion.

This project showed me how controversial und complex these discussions are and how far

from reality they are. During my research, I tried to hold back my prejudice regarding

refugees everybody has or are generated by the media and it was beautiful. It was great to see

people from different cultures doing sports together. They don’t even speak the same

language and nevertheless they understand each other by a nonverbal language. They had fun,

they laugh, they get in touch with each other and it was pure joy. No one cared about the

religion of somebody or where they are coming from. They were just humans doing sport and

having fun.

It was interesting to see, how thankful most of the refugees were to be able to live in Germany

and furthermore be in a sports club. To talk with some refugees and hear their story and what

they made through just to come to Germany and to live a normal life without war and

suppression was very impressive. And even more impressive and interesting was to hear that

the refugees, who are willing to integrate are very angry about those who just come here and

receive money from the state or are trying to do criminal activities. They understand that

Germans are cautious regarding refugees because of what is written in the newspaper but they

hope that they can state an example for good integration and they hope, that they can live

along Germans without fear and prejudices against each other.

/ Politics …

EBS Business School

EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht

Aktuelle Flüchtlingspolitik

L-PDV1-005 BSC SCI Do It! I

Name: Matin Sofizada

Semester: Fall Term 2016

Matrikelnummer: 24032255

Betreuer: Dr. Marcus Kreikebaum

Datum: 31.12.2016

Wortanzahl: 2.800

Einleitung

Seit ungefähr zwei Jahren habe ich das Privileg, in verschiedenen lehrreichen Rollen als

Flüchtlingshelfer aktiv zu sein. Zu Beginn beschränkte sich mein Engagement auf die Übersetzung

vom Deutschen ins Persische und umgekehrt, mit der Zeit wandelte es sich jedoch zum Betreuer

und Konfliktmanager. Die letzten beiden „Do it! Projekte“ erlaubten es mir als Teamleiter zusätzlich

im Verbund mit anderen interkulturell kompetenten und engagierten Kollegen Prozesse mit einem

Nachhaltigkeitsanspruch zu gestalten. Mein letztjähriges Essay behandelte die Erweiterung und

Veränderung meiner persönlichen Sichtweise in Bezug auf Flüchtlinge. Nachdem ich die

Flüchtlingskrise aus der Perspektive eines neugierigen Beobachters, ehrenamtlichen

Dolmetschers, Projektleiters und Mitglied der bundesweiten Initiative „Unsere Zukunft. Mit Dir!“

erforschen und die Arbeit von in der gegenwärtigen „Flüchtlingskrise“ involvierten Individuen und

Organisationen aufmerksam auf nahezu allen Ebenen verfolgen konnte, bietet es sich geradezu

an, dass mein diesjähriges Essay eine politische Dimension beinhaltet. Vereinfacht formuliert

begegnen Asylsuchende drei große Herausforderungen. Die erste ist die Fluchtursache, meistens

in Form von Kriegen oder Verfolgungen. Anschließend erfolgt die gefährliche Flucht und

schlussendlich die Integration in einem fremden Land. Nachdem ich mir bereits ein umfassendes

Wissen und Verständnis zum Thema Integration angeeignet habe, beschäftigten mich die übrigen

Phasen zunehmend. Eine gelungene Integration rettet ohne Frage die Zukunft talentierter

Flüchtlinge. Vom ersten Tag an muss durch das Angebot von kurz- und langfristigen Perspektiven,

Deutschkursen und menschlicher Wärme verhindern werden, dass sich ihre Psyche in eine für

alle Beteiligten nicht wünschenswerte Richtung entwickelt. Nun wollte ich ein differenzierteres und

zutreffendes Meinungsbild über die beiden anderen Herausforderungen - Flucht und

Fluchtursachen - entwickeln, die die Asylbewerber betreffen und gar über Leben und Tod

entscheiden, ich jedoch nicht unmittelbar beeinflussen kann. Die politische Führung der

Bundesrepublik Deutschland hingegen schon. In meiner Arbeit werde ich demzufolge meinen

Fokus auf diese beiden Problemfelder und legen und dabei so weit es geht analysieren, wie die

Stellung und tatsächliche Rolle der Bundesregierung hierzu ist. Zum Schluss schildere ich eine

neu gewonnene Erkenntnis, welche politische Maßnahme im Bereich der Integration meiner

Meinung nach notwendig ist.

Hauptteil

Auch dieses Jahr führte ich unzählige Gespräche mit afghanischen Asylbewerbern, die vor

dem Bürgerkrieg geflohen sind. Nahezu alle zeichneten ein düsteres Bild und fielen auf durch die

Hoffnungslosigkeit in Bezug auf die Zukunft ihres Landes. Anlässlich eines Todesfalls in meiner

Familie konnte ich mir im letzten Sommer ein eigenes Bild von der heutigen Situation in

Afghanistan machen. Über ein Land medial informiert und belesen zu sein, gibt eine äußerst grobe

Vorstellung. Die Möglichkeit, sich mit Erstquellen auszutauschen, verleiht eine deutlich genauere

Vorstellung über das jeweilige Land. Die angespannte Situation, die die Asylbewerber täglich und

über Jahre ausgesetzt sind, hautnah mitzuerleben, trägt allerdings zu einem unvergleichlich

besseren Verständnis bei. In einer modernen Gesellschaft ist es unverzichtbar und mittlerweile

eine alte Weisheit, dass wir Menschen erst kennenlernen müssen, bevor wir uns eine feste

Meinung über sie bilden. Selbstverständlich ist es unzumutbar, jedem zu diesem Zweck einen

Besuch in ein Kriegsgebiet nahezulegen. Der Besuch eines Flüchtlingsheims um die Ecke muss

aber zur Selbstverständlichkeit werden, denn sonst fehlt das Wissen über die neuen

Mitmenschen, was wiederum Parteien wie die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) oder

vergleichbare Gruppen für sich zu nutzen wissen. Meine Erfahrungen in Afghanistan bestätigten

nicht nur die Schilderungen meiner afghanischen Freunde. Sie waren noch extremer als ich es

mir ohnehin vorstellte und dies trotz der Tatsache, dass ich selbst afghanischer Staatsbürger bin

und unzählige Gespräche mit Betroffenen führte. Mein Blick auf Kriege hat sich hierbei nochmals

verändert, sodass meine Gefühle und Gedanken in Gesprächen mit Syrern, Afghanen oder

anderen Kriegsflüchtlingen nicht mehr dieselben sind wie vor meinem Afghanistan-Aufenthalt.

Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich die Folgen des Krieges nicht am eigenen Leib miterlebt und kann nur

spekulieren, welche seelischen Narben es mit sich bringt, im Krieg zu leben.

Afghanistan ist mit circa 120.000 Asylbewerbern in Deutschland im Jahr 2016 nach Syrien

an der Spitze der Herkunftsländer steht (BMI, 2016). Nach einer Vereinbarung zwischen der EU

und Afghanistan sollen in naher Zukunft mindestens 80.000 Afghanen abgeschoben werden

(Agence France-Presse, 2016). Im Dezember 2016 hat es hierzulande bereits die erste

öffentlichkeitswirksame Sammel-Abschiebung nach Kabul gegeben. „Sichere Zonen“ werden von

der Bundesregierung wie folgt definiert: „Wenn in einer Region das Verhältnis von zivilen Opfern

zur Gesamtbevölkerung geringer als 1:800 ist, gilt das Risiko für Leib und Leben als zu niedrig,

um allein deshalb Schutz in Deutschland zu erhalten.“ (Hammerstein, Hoffmann, Koelbl &

Wiedmann-Schmidt, 2016). Die Daten, die dafür herangezogen werden, sind intransparent und

umfassen teilweise anonyme Quellen. Des Weiteren erfolgt eine Betrachtung auf Provinzebene,

während es starke Abweichungen zwischen einzelnen Distrikten gibt. Damit eignen sich die

Informationen nicht, um in irgendeiner Form eine Differenzierung zwischen „sicheren“ und

„unsicheren Gebieten“ vorzunehmen, dennoch stellt die Bundesregierung auf dieser Grundlage

fest, „dass die Sicherheitslage in Afghanistan in einigen Regionen eine Rückkehr

ausreisepflichtiger afghanischer Staatsangehöriger grundsätzlich erlaubt.“ (IMK, 2016)

In Vergleich zu den ersten Einsatzjahren der ISAF-Truppen und meinem Besuch im Jahr

2003, in der immerhin die Präsenz von 40 Nationen für den „Krieg gegen den Terror“ vonnöten

waren, ist die Anzahl von Terroranschlägen erheblich gestiegen. So entwickelte sich ein

Selbstmordattentat in der Hauptstadt Kabul von einem dramatischen Ereignis zur einer täglichen

Normalität. Der Rückzug der ISAF trägt zusätzlich zu einer Zuspitzung der Sicherheitslage bei, da

dadurch die afghanischen Sicherheitskräfte größtenteils auf sich alleine gestellt sind. Zwar haben

im Zeitraum von 2001 bis 2014 durchaus auch Verbesserungen stattgefunden, wie im Bereich der

weiblichen Emanzipation, jedoch ist die NATO-Mission gemessen an den proklamierten Zielen,

insbesondere auch an den immensen menschlichen und materiellen Kosten, zweifellos

gescheitert. Angesichts der weiteren Destabilisierung im Laufe des Einsatzes wurde das primäre

Vorhaben, eine Stabilisierung der Gesamtlage zu erwirken, weit verfehlt. Gerade in dieser

Tiefphase die Gefahrenlage für die Zivilbevölkerung in Frage zu stellen, ist in hohem Maße

widersprüchlich. Das Verhalten der Bundesregierung zeigt auf, dass es ihr hauptsächlich um eine

Reduktion der Asylbewerber und Geduldeten geht und es sich nicht lediglich um eine

gerechtfertigte Korrektur handelt. Die Bezeichnung „sichere Zonen“ ist irreführend, da sie nicht

dem westlichen Verständnis vom Sicherheitsbegriff entsprechen kann, auch dann, wenn die von

der Bundesregierung ausformulierten Kriterien zweifellos erfüllt wären. Wie sehr dies speziell auf

Deutschland zutrifft, zeigt sich unter anderem daran, dass in Deutschland bereits ein tragisches

Vorkommnis für die landesweite Verbreitung eines Unsicherheitsgefühls ausreicht und das

Erreichen von Rekordwerten für Selbstverteidigungskurse und Pfefferspray (Kock, 2016). Dies

ungeachtet der Tatsache, dass Zuwanderer statistisch gesehen nicht krimineller sind als

Deutsche, wie es das Bundeskriminalamt in Vergangenheit mehrmals betont hat (Pinkert &

Strozyk, 2016; DPA, 2016) In meinem diesjährigen Aufenthalt befand ich mich die meiste Zeit in

Kabul, einer als „sichere Zone“ deklarierten Provinz. Dort finden ein bis drei organisierte

Terroranschläge pro Tag statt. Mit dem Begriff „sicher“ suggeriert die Bundesregierung der

Öffentlichkeit bewusst ein realitätsverzerrtes Bild. Das Wort „Sicherheit“ beschreibt laut dem

Duden den Zustand des Sicherseins, Geschütztseins vor Gefahr oder Schaden und das

höchstmögliche Freisein von Gefährdungen. Genauso oder so ähnlich wird dieser Begriff

normalerweise interpretiert. Die zutreffendere Bezeichnung „unsichere Zone, die den

Schutzanforderungen nicht entspricht“ könnte jedoch nicht zum Zwecke der eindämmenden

Asylpolitik instrumentalisiert werden. Die Simplifizierung des Problems und das Nichteingehen auf

Details seitens der Großen Koalition ist nur deswegen durchsetzbar, weil die Wahlbevölkerung

schwerlich in der Lage ist, die Zustände eines solch fernliegenden Landes im Gegensatz zu den

des eigenen Landes akkurat einzuschätzen. Genau für solche komplexen Fragen, die das

einfache Volk nicht durchleuchten kann, werden machtvolle Parlamente und Regierungen

eingesetzt und auf die permanente Durchführung von Volksentscheiden verzichtet. Damit diese

abgeschwächte Form der Demokratie ihre Legitimität beibehält, müssen die Regierenden immer

wieder aufs Neue beweisen, dass sie ihre Aufgaben verantwortungsvoll und mit höchsten

moralischen Maßstäben ausführen. Insbesondere da es sich hier weder um gewöhnliche

alltagspolitische Fragestellungen noch um drohende Firmenbankrotts oder steigende Strompreise

dreht, sondern um die Sicherheit von zehntausenden hilfesuchenden Menschen, erreichen

politische Handlungen eine lange Zeit nicht dagewesene Brisanz und eine neue Dimension der

Verantwortung. Menschen in Regionen abzuschieben, in denen sie nachweislich einer großen

Gefahr für Leib und Leben ausgesetzt sind und zugleich zu behaupten, diese Regionen seien

„sicher“, wird dieser sowohl politischen als auch moralischen Verantwortung nicht gerecht. In

dieser Zeit und in dieser Frage dürfen Debatten darüber, unter welchen exakten Umständen

Menschen eine Abschiebung zugemutet werden dürfen, angesichts der schwachen Opposition

auch von Repräsentanten der Großen Koalition nicht gescheut werden. Während in den

vergangenen Monaten über das Schicksal der Afghanen entschieden und entsprechende

Maßnahmen eingeleitet wurden, stritt man innerhalb der Union, der Großen Koalition und in der

gesamten Bundesrepublik darüber, ob eine Vollverschleierung erlaubt oder verboten sein soll.

Dabei ist selbst der Bundesregierung nicht bekannt, wie viele Burka-Trägerinnen in Deutschland

leben. Es ist jedoch davon auszugehen, dass es sich um eine extrem geringe Zahl handelt. Von

allen Seiten muss erkannt werden, dass Symboldebatten wesentliche Debatten, welche über

Leben und Tod entscheiden, verdrängen. In Anbetracht dieser negativen Entwicklung, die einen

Tiefpunkt erreicht hat, ist es von Bedeutung, dass die junge Generation dies zum entscheidenden

Anlass nimmt sich politisch zu engagieren, um eine Wende herbeizuführen, und sich nicht im

Gegenteil von der Politik abzuwenden.

Im Jahr 2016 sind 5.000 Menschen auf dem Weg nach Europa im Mittelmeer ertrunken

(DPA, 2016). Unabhängig davon, ob sie vor Krieg, einem autoritären Regime oder Armut fliehen,

vereint die Menschen die Absicht einen Antrag auf Asyl im Zielland einzureichen. Die illegale

Flucht ist für den Großteil der Flüchtlinge die einzige Alternative, da es nicht im Interesse der

Europäischen Union ist, legale Wege zu schaffen, sondern diese möglichst zu begrenzen.

Vereinbarungen mit der Türkei und Erklärungen von extrem unsicheren Ländern wie Afghanistan

zu de facto sicheren Herkunftsländern, sind menschenunwürdige Handlungen, die eine möglichst

vollkommene Regulierung des Andrangs der Flüchtlinge bezwecken. Weder würde die deutsche

Wahlbevölkerung einen massiven Zustrom dulden, der entstünde, wenn in der deutschen

Botschaft des jeweiligen Herkunftslandes Asyl beantragen werden könnte, noch wäre es für sie

akzeptabel, die Türen für Immigranten grundsätzlich zu schließen. Um einem politischen

Selbstmord zu entkommen, ist es daher unumgänglich für die Bundesregierung, bis zu einem

gewissen Grad Kontrolle über die Situation zu erlangen.

Die „Flüchtlingskrise“ führte bisher weder zu Steuererhöhungen noch zu anderen

materiellen Benachteiligungen deutscher Bürger. Doch selbst wenn eine von vielen gefürchtete

großzügigere und offenere Flüchtlingspolitik eine Verschiebung der Budgetverteilung unserer

Bundesregierung zur Folge hätte, so hilft folgender Vergleich, um die Skepsis über ein solches

Szenario zu entkräften: Verzichtet man nur auf den Bau von einem der unzähligen öffentlichen

Luxusgüter, wie bspw. eine teure und umstrittene Fußgängerbrücke, ermöglicht das die Sicherung

der Existenz und Integration von über hundert Flüchtlingen über einen längeren Zeitraum. Die

Debatte ist jedoch so emotionalisiert und entrationalisiert, dass beim Otto-Normal-Bürger der

gegenteilige Eindruck erweckt wird, man tausche die Zukunft eines Deutschen gegen die eines

Einwanderers aus. Vielmehr: Deutschlands Kultur, Sicherheit und gar Fortbestand stehe auf dem

Spiel. Die entscheidende, wenn auch selten gestellte Frage entspringt keiner symbolpolitischen

Debatte und heißt nicht „Braucht Deutschland eine Obergrenze?“. Sie lautet auch nicht, wie ich

es anfangs formuliert hätte, „Wie viel ist uns Deutschen der Wohlstand wert?“. Deutschlands

Wohlstand steht nicht auf dem Spiel, selbst wenn Medien, Politiker und das von Gefühl geleitete

Wesen in uns diesen Eindruck vermitteln mag. Die Frage ist eher: „Wie viel ist uns zu viel

Wohlstand wert?“ Deutschland ist eines der reichsten Länder der Welt und hat sich durch ihre

Geschichte zu einem empathischen und moralbewussten Volk entwickelt. Dem Bürger muss klar

sein, dass das Massensterben im Mittelmeer von Volksvertretern und Regierung zwar nicht

gewollt, jedoch bewusst in Kauf genommen wird und ein verheerende Ergebnis ihrer Politik ist.

Aufgabe der Politik und Medien muss es nun sein, den Mut aufzubringen, um anstelle von

Scheindebatten die richtigen, das heißt konstruktiven und wirkungsvollen Debatten zu führen.

Sollte es den Gewalten einschließlich der Medien gelingen, den Deutschen die wahren und

entscheidenden Fragen zu vergegenwärtigen, brächten diese daraufhin mit Sicherheit genügend

Sensibilität auf, um die Annahme moralisch hochwertiger Positionen im Kampf gegen die

humanitären Katastrophen für die Politiker lohnenswert erscheinen zu lassen. Da der Mensch das

egoistische Wesen in sich selbstverständlich nicht gänzlich überwinden kann, kann es auch keine

moralisch bedenkenlosen und unumstrittenen Lösungsansätze geben, die zugleich ohne

unüberwindbaren Widerstand umsetzbar wären. Im Idealfall führe jedoch ein gesteigertes

Vertrauen zum Gerechtigkeitssinn der deutschen Bürger, eine Wiederkehr des Mutes der Politiker

und eine Rückbesinnung der Meinungsträger auf Fakten dazu, dass die Stimmung nicht gegen

die wahren Opfer gerichtet ist, sondern allemal gegen unsere Tatenlosigkeit in der Vergangenheit.

Flüchtlingen Hilfe zu leisten, sich mit ihnen auszutauschen, von ihnen und über sie zu

lernen - auf diese Erfahrung möchte ich nicht verzichten. Es haben sich bei mir einige

Projektmitglieder gemeldet, die anfangs ihre Skepsis gegenüber Flüchtlingen geäußert haben und

mir heute bestätigen können, dass sie ein komplett anderes Bild von Flüchtlingen haben als zuvor

und das wahrscheinlich niemals möglich geworden wäre, wenn sie nicht am Projekt teilgenommen

hätten. Erst durch das Begegnen und die Arbeit mit Flüchtlingen hat sich das gewendet. Ohne

diesen Kontakt kann jeder, ganz gleich ob es sich um einen hochgebildeten Akadamiker oder ein

ungebildetes Kind handelt, einem Irrtum unterliegen. Diese Erkenntnis lässt sich auf das Ansehen

von Behinderten oder alten Menschen übertragen. Jeder sollte intensiven Kontakt mit mindestens

einem dieser Bevölkerungsschichten, besser jedoch mit allen drei, aufgenommen haben, der über

das oberflächliche Kennenlernen hinausgeht. Bestenfalls sollte dies vor dem Studium erfolgen.

Service Learning, wie es vollzogen haben, sollte meiner Meinung nach verpflichten in Schulen

werden, um ein neues und realitätsnahes Bewusstsein zu schaffen und zu fördern. Vorurteile und

Pauschalisierung würden in Zukunft abnehmen und nicht mehr Grundlage von politischen

Haltungen werden können. Das gleiche gälte für Flüchtlinge, die dadurch ausnahmslos mit einer

Vielzahl von Einheimischen in Kontakt kämen. Eine starke Beschleunigung der Integration wäre

die Folge. Zu guter Letzt wäre das eine enorme Entlastung für Flüchtlingsheime, Altersheime und

viele mehr. In 9 bis 12 Jahren Schulzeit sollte hierfür Platz sein. Da die Schulpolitik

bedauerlicherweise Ländersache, richtet sich mein Appell nicht an die Bundesregierung, sondern

an die jeweiligen Landesregierungen und die Kultusministerkonferenz.

Schluss

Die Politik begegnet ohne Frage eine anspruchsvolle Ausnahmesituation. Welche

Handlungen Deutschland für sich ableitet, sollte davon abhängen, in welcher Position sie sich

befindet. Wie mächtig ist das Land? Wie reich ist das Land? Und vor allem: Wie lässt sich eine

Politik vermitteln, die sowohl im Sinne der Hilfesuchenden als auch im Sinne der Bevölkerung ist?

Was auf den ersten Blick unmöglich erscheinen mag, ist nicht so abwegig. Sind die deutschen

Bürger ausreichend informiert und aufgeklärt, so gäbe es keinen Widerspruch zwischen einer

Politik für Flüchtlinge und einer Politik der Bürger. Die Politik muss das als ihre Aufgabe verstehen

und größere Anstrengungen in diese Richtung unternehmen. Welche Menschen in unser Land

Obhut finden dürfen, sollte eine juristische und moralische, keine rein politische Frage sein. Die

Forderung der CSU nach der Einführung einer Obergrenze ist ein Schachzug, der Horst Seehofer

auch bei einer Nichtberücksichtigung auf bayerischer Landesebene nützt. Sie ist offensichtlich

verfassungswidrig und stellt für die Bundesregierung keine Option dar. Wohl nicht

verfassungswidrig, wobei auch dem Bundesverfassungsgericht diesbezüglich

Verfassungsbeschwerden vorliegen, ist die Politik der Bundesregierung, die durch geschickte

Schachzüge über andere Wege die Zahl der Flüchtlinge eindämmen will. Statt die Bemühungen

auf die Bekämpfung der Flüchtlingsursachen, eine Neuorientierung der Rüstungspolitik und das

Allgemeinwohl der Flüchtlinge zu konzentrieren, ist sie bereit, fragwürdige Maßnahmen zu

ergreifen, die kurzfristig wirken und Flüchtlinge gefährden.

Es kann beobachtet werden, dass es eine Vielzahl von Journalisten immer weniger um Wahrheit

und Fakten geht, dass Politiker zunehmend mit Kalkül handeln und dass Menschen von Tag zu

Tag ihr Interesse für Politik und Gesellschaft verlieren. All diese Faktoren erklären eine Politik

gegen Menschen, die nach Hilfe rufen und normalerweise auch gegen eine bestens informierte

Wahlbevölkerung, die aufgrund der Komplexität in der Praxis nicht zu finden ist. Was wir

außerhalb der Politik unternehmen können, ist das Bewusstsein der Menschen zu verändern, sie

mit der Wahrheit zu konfrontieren und so auch politische Positionen der großen Parteien insofern

zu beeinflussen, als diese sich näher an die Fakten und die Nöte von Bedürftigen richten.

Innerhalb der Politik ist mehr talentierter Nachwuchs gefordert. Diese sollten multikulturelle

Erfahrungen gesammelt haben und sich gesellschaftlich, nicht nur parteipolitisch, engagiert

haben. Merken die Medien, dass große Gefühle keine Verkaufsschlager mehr sind, werden diese

sich automatisch wieder mehr der kompromisslosen Suche nach der Wahrheit widmen.

Referenzliste Bundesministerium des Innern (15. Dezember 2016). Rückführung nach Afghanistan. Abgerufen am 17. Dezember 2016, von http://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2016/12/erste- rueckfuehrung-nach-afghanistan.html Agence France-Presse (3. Oktober 2016). EU: Zehntausend Flüchtlinge sollen abgeschoben werden. Tagesspiegel. Abgerufen am 26. Dezember, von http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/fluechtlinge-eu-zehntausende-afghanen-sollen- abgeschoben-werden/14637442.html Von Hammerstein, K., Hoffmann, C., Koelbl, S. & Wiedmann-Schmidt, W. (September 2016). Berlin will verstärkt afghanische Migranten abschieben. Spiegel Online. Abgerufen am 26. Dezember 2016, von https://magazin.spiegel.de/SP/2016/9/143351309/index.html

Ständige Konferenz der Innenminister und -senatoren der Länder (7. Dezember 2015). Sammlung der zur Veröffentlichung freigegebenen Beschlüsse der 203. Sitzung der Ständigen Konferenz der Innenminister und -senatoren der Länder. Website der Innenministerkonferenz. Abgerufen am 27. Dezember 2016, von http://www.innenministerkonferenz.de/IMK/DE/termine/to-beschluesse/2015-12- 03_04/beschluesse.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2

Kock, F. (30. Dezember 2016). Die Angst hat sich verändert. Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Abgerufen am 30. Dezember 2016, von http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/sicherheitsgefuehl-in- deutschland-die-angst-hat-sich-veraendert-1.3307484 Pinkert, R. & Strozyk, S. (30. Dezember 2016). BKA-Bericht: Flüchtlinge begehen weniger Straftaten. Abgerufen am 30. Dezember 2016. von http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/fluechtlinge-bka-bericht-fluechtlinge-begehen- weniger-straftaten-1.3315641 Deutsche Presse-Agentur (8. Juni 2016). Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche. Abgerufen am 26. Dezember 2016, von http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2016- 06/bundeskriminalamt-statistik- straftaten-asylbewerber Deutsche Presse-Agentur (23. Dezember 2016). Zahl der Ertrunkenen auf Rekordstand. Spiegel Online. Abgerufen am 25. Dezember 2016, von http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/fluechtlinge-im-mittelmeer-zahl-der-ertrunkenen-migranten-auf-rekordstand-a-1127373.html

/ Populism …

SCIDoIt!–DoItatLorch

IndividualEssayandLearningJournal

Underthesupervisionof:Mr.Kreikebaum

Françoisd’Adhémar(24132912)Submittedon:27thDecember2016

Refugeesindividualessay

3

I–IndividualEssay

1)Introduction

Thissemester,whileattendingtoanothersemesterasadualdegree

studentatEBS,wehadtheopportunitytodosomeworkandgivetimesto

differentcausesandwork.Amongthevariousprojects,Idecidedtojointheone

involvingtherefugeesafterhearingandreadingabouttherefugeessituationon

thenewsforagoodpartof2015and2016.Aseveryoneknows,refugeesare

moreandmoreseekingasyluminEurope:Fortheyear2015,Europehasgiven

asylumto333350refugees,whichisahugeincreasecompareto2014(+72%)1.

Francenewspapersoftenusetheterm“crisis”ontheirheadlinesregardingthis

situation.ThisiswhyIjoinedthisprojectasIwantedtobeincontactwiththem,

tobeabletogettoknowthemalittlemore,makemyownopinion,understand

theirpositionandhelpifIcould.Becauseofallthearticleswecouldseefora

whilenow,themainconcernsthatwerepinpointedwerethefactthatEurope

neverhostedthatmuchrefugeesatonce,thattheywouldcomealoneandendup

withtheirallfamily,whilestealingourjobs.Theseexaggeratedstereotypesseem

tohavespreadandbethebaseofmanyconversationsandbeliefspeopleshareto

oneanother.Also,asIhavebeentravelingquitealot:havinglivedfor10months

inEnglandlastyearandbeingFrenchaswell,Ifeltlikethoseideasarecommonly

sharedataEuropeanlevelandnotonlyinFrance.

However,whileparticipatingtothishumanexperience,Iwaspositivelysurprise

bethebehaviourandtalkswecouldhavewithoneanother.Forallofthose

reasonsandbasedonmyownexperience,Iwantedtoworkonthemain

stereotypesthatwetendtohaveontherefugeeswhileexpressingmyapproach

regardingthem.

1http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7233417/3-20042016-AP-EN.pdf/34c4f5af-eb93-4ecd-984c-577a5271c8c5:EU Member States granted protection to more than 330 000 asylum seekers in 2015

Refugeesindividualessay

4

2)Refugeesasylum:acomplexandoftenmiscomprehendedsituationAspreviouslymentioned,themedia,oftencalledthefourthpower,gaveus

plentydocumentaries,articles,specialeditionsontherefugeessituationformorethana

yearnow,andwhileexposingthefactthat333350asylumseekersreceivedprotection

statusfromtheEuropeanUnion,andthatover1millionmigrantsarrivedinEuropein

2015aswell,somestereotypesandcommonbelievesrapidlyspreadamongussuchas:

- Franceneverhadasmuchmigrantsandforeignersasnow.->Thisisnotentirely

true,in1982Francehad4millionimmigrantsand3,5foreignersinitsterritory,

foratotalpopulationof55millionoftotalpopulation.Almost30yearslaterin

2011,itwas5,4millionimmigrantsand3,7millionofforeignerslivinginFrance

foratotalpopulationof65million.Lookingatpercentage,itgivesus+1,2%of

immigrantsbutadecreaseof-0,5%offoreigners2.

2http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2014/08/06/sept-idees-recues-sur-l-immigration-et-les-immigres_4467506_4355770.html

Refugeesindividualessay

5

- Anotherstrongclichéisthattherefugeesaretakingourjobs.->False,usually,

refugeesfirstneedtolearnthelanguageofthecountrythatishostingthem,

sometimesaswelltheyaretakingthejobthatpeoplefromthehostcountrydo

notwantanymoreandfinally,before“stealing”jobstheyalsocreatemoreof

thembybeingatfirstnewconsumersinthemarketthatcanincreasesales,

marketsizeandpotentiallygenerategrowthofbusinesswithnewopportunities

andnewjobs.Furthermore,applyingforajobisalsocomplicatedinsomecases.

Forinstance,inGermany,asweweretalkingwiththepeopleatLorch,andby

helpingthemfindingemployment,welearnedthatpriorapplyingtoanyjobs,

theyneededtogothroughthe“jobcentre”andthenthejobcentrewouldhavejob

offersbutwillalsobetheorganizationinchargeofthecontractbetweenthe

companyandtherefugee.Thejobcentreisalsotheonecollectingthesalarybut

theyarealsocoveringthecostsofhousingfortherefugees.

- RefugeesthatarriveinEuropearenotwelleducated->False,fromexperience

andbygoingtoLorchonceaweekforthepastsemester,Ihavemetgreatpeople

that,bytheirdifferentbackground,culture,religion,hadalottoofferandwe

couldenjoytheircompanyandsomeplayedusguitarwhilesinging,otherswould

makeusniceartdrawingsandbakingusgoodfood,evenifhewaspreviously

workinginabank;otherswoulddousmagictricks,andwealsoencountered

students,Englishteacher,thingsEuropeanstudentslikeuscouldnoteven

replicateifwetriedoverandover,etc….Thoseexamplearejustamongthe

refugeeswewereseeingandtheyhadalottoofferandtheirvariousskillsareI

believearealbenefitstous;assomepeopleseethemonlytakingthingsfromus,

theydonotrealizethattheyactuallyhavealottoofferinreturn,newlanguage

forexampleandalltheotherthingsImentionedabove.

- EuropeishostingthemiseryofEarth->False,inordertoarriveintoEurope,the

refugeeshastogothroughalong,dangerousandhazardoustravelwherethey

actuallyneedalotofmoneytobeabletoarrivesafelyintoEuropeandtobeable

topaytheexpensiveboatsandothertransportationmeanstoescapeandleave

Refugeesindividualessay

6

theirhomecountry.Thepeoplewithoutanymoneyareunfortunatelynotableto

paythetraveltoothercountryandstaywheretheyare.Thispartiallyexplains

whymostoftherefugeesandmigrantsinEuropeareeducatedand

knowledgeable.

- Refugeesareexpensiveforthepublicfinances->False,andtheycaneven

contributetowelfare.Indeed,bycomingtoacountry,andtakingtheexampleof

Belgium,refugeesactuallycangiveabenefitof3500€perpersonduetotaxes,

consumptionetc…Itisevenexpectedthatrefugeeswillcontributetoagrowthof

0,1%oftheeconomicgrowthinBelgium3.Onceagainthiscouldbeexplainbythe

presenceandconsumptionoftherefugeesbutitisalsoaboutallthejobcreated

aroundhostingthemsuchasdirectjobtohostthem,borderscontrolandsafety,

andalsotheEUactuallyprovidesfundstoitsmemberstodealwiththerefugees

crisis,theyallocated€10billionforthismatterforboth2015and20164.So

regardingthestereotypesofrefugeescostingusagreatdealofmoney,them

stealingourjobs,wecanactuallyseethatitisnotthecaseastheyalsogenerate

creationofjobinothersectorandastheyarenowlivingintheirhostcountry,

theyconsumeandactastherestofus.

3)ConclusionWiththeconflictshappeningintheMiddle-Eastandtheexponentialgrowth

ofmigrantsarrivinginEuropelastyear,therefugeescrisistookanotherlevelandled

theEuropeansconfusedregardingthistopic.Fearoftheunknown,fearofsecurity,job-

securityalsohelpedthestereotypesregardingtherefugeesthatareusuallynot

favourabletothem.BasedonmyexperienceatLorchandthefactsIcouldfindandeven

hear,Icangladlysaythatmostofthepessimiststereotypesagainstrefugeesarewrong.

Indeed,someofusmusthaveheardandassumethattheybringnothingand,even

worse,theyjustcametotakefromus.Asdemonstratedinthisessay,Iwasabletofind

3https://www.amnesty.be/decouvrir-nos-campagnes/migrants-et-refugies/10-prejuges-sur-les-migrants/prejuges#nb33-94http://publications.europa.eu/webpub/com/factsheets/refugee-crisis/en/

Refugeesindividualessay

7

thatmostofthesestereotypeswerewrongintermsofeconomicreasons:hostingthem

actuallycreatejobsbutmainly,Ithinkweshouldalwayskeepinmindthattheyare

humanbeingsandassuch,theyhavelotofthingstooffer:thediversityofourculturesis

beneficialaswecanteacheachothernewthings(languages,knowledge),wecanspend

greattimetogetherasIhadtheopportunitytodoitwiththeotherstudentofEBS.Last

yearinEngland,Iwasdoinganinternshipforanautomotivesupplierand,whileoff

loadingoneofourtrucksarrivingfromFrance,sevenrefugeesjumpedofthetruckand

ranonthestreet,andtheyhaddamagedtheproductbyopeningtheboxes,potentially

lookingforfood.Thisfirstencounter,frommycorporateperspectivewasnotverygood

Ihavetosay,butaseveryoneisdifferentandafterlearningtoknowthembetterand

actuallyspendingsomequalitytimewiththem,Icanconcludethisworkbysayingthat

frommyperspective,refugeesareasourceofwealthbothhumanandforthe

pessimistic,financialaswell.

Refugeesindividualessay

8

4)Bibliography(2016)10préjugéssurlesmigrants,AmnestyInternational[online]

https://www.amnesty.be/decouvrir-nos-campagnes/migrants-et-refugies/10-prejuges-

sur-les-migrants/prejuges#nb33-9(accessed22/12/2016)

Eurostat(2016),EUMemberStatesgrantedprotectiontomorethan330000asylumseekersin2015,Eurostatpressrelease[online]http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7233417/3-20042016-AP-EN.pdf/34c4f5af-eb93-4ecd-984c-577a5271c8c5(accessed21/12/2016)EuropeanCommission(2016),TheEUandtherefugeecrisis,Europeancommission[online]http://publications.europa.eu/webpub/com/factsheets/refugee-crisis/en/(accessed22/12/2016)Laurent,S.(2014),7idéesrecuessurl’immigrationetlesimmigrésenFrance,LeMonde[online] http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2014/08/06/sept-idees-recues-sur-l-immigration-et-les-immigres_4467506_4355770.html(accessed21/12/2016)

EBS Business School

EBS Universität fur Wirtschaft und Recht

SCI Educare essay

Individual Assignment

What is the situation of migrants in France?

How to fight populism?

Names: Victorien Chantreau, Charlotte Cornu

Matriculation numbers: 23132002, 23131985

2

Table of Content

Introduction: ............................................................................................................................ 3

I. The situation of migrants in France ............................................................................. 3 1. Migrant's origins: ........................................................................................................................ 3 2. France compared to Europe .................................................................................................... 4 3. 2017 campaign ............................................................................................................................ 5 4. Putting migrants & homeless persons face to face ......................................................... 6 5. Calais ............................................................................................................................................... 7

II. The rise of Nationalism in Europe: ............................................................................. 8 1. Example of France: ..................................................................................................................... 8 2. What can be done against Nationalism?.................................................................................. 9

Conclusion: ............................................................................................................................ 10

Bibliography: ........................................................................................................................ 11

3

Introduction:

The trip from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq or else to France will not be studied here.

The emphasis will be placed on the situation of migrants after their arrival and their living

conditions. In a second part, the rise of populism will be discussed.

It is very difficult to remain neutral and objective while talking about such an

important and controversial topic. Thus, every time it is possible, the political orientation

of every source will be added in the footnotes. Then, one can create his/her own opinion

about the information given.

Let's make it clear that it is very difficult to count the number of migrants in

France, as a lot of them are (still) in irregular situation. Moreover, any kind of ethnical

statistics is forbidden in the country, which avoids "side-counting" or "side-analysis".

I. The situation of migrants in France

1. Migrant's origins:

The "country of human rights" always provided asylum to a certain number of

migrants from every part of the world. (2014: Iraq, Afghanistan not in the top 10)

Country 2014 Country 2015

Democratic rep. Congo 3782 Soudan 5091

China 2497 Syria 3403

Bangladesh 2425 Kosovo 3139

Russia 2138 Bangladesh 3071

Syria 2072 Haiti 3049

Pakistan 2047 Democratic rep. Congo 2937

Albania 1944 China 2814

Soudan 1793 Albania 2245

Haiti 1730 Iraq 2145

Guinea 1612 Afghanistan 2122

4

This table from the ministry of interior shows an important change in the origin

of migrants, indicator of major socio-politic changes in the world. The change is

particularly visible for Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the three main nationalities for Europe

according to Eurostat (more than 50% of the total). Also, the number of Syrians doubled,

the number of Afghans increased fourth fold and the number or Iraqi has been multiplied

by seven! They follow -respectively- the persecution of the Kurdish minority by ISIS, the

non-ending civilian war in Afghanistan (worse since the withdrawal of UN forces in

2013-2014), and Sunni-Shiite wars in Iraq, added with ISIS exactions.

2. France compared to Europe

Despite some wrong information passed by far-right politicians and newspapers1,

France has a rather low rate of asylum enquirer compared to its European neighbors

(1.063 per each million inhabitants). In absolute value, this number comes to 70.500

(5,6% of the total number of refugees in Europe, whereas its population is 13% of

Europe's!). The country also has one of the lowest evolution between 2014 and 2015:

only 20% compared to an average 123% in whole Europe.

Number of Asylum enquirers/one million inhabitants (2015)2

1 See part 2 of this paper 2 Source: EUROSTAT; absolutely neutral source: the institution only focuses on figures

without giving any interpretation.

5

By the way, the figures are not tremendously high compared to French history3

(There were already a few peaks related to other historical events). The point here is not

to say that there is no migration crisis, and that no particular action should be taken by

governments to help migrants. The point here is to prove that there is no "invasion", as

we sometimes see in medias. Despite this optimistic statement, the record has been broken

last year and will probably keep increasing.

Demands (blue) and acceptations (yellow) of asylum in France since 1973

3. 2017 campaign

2017 happens to be an important year for politics, as instance for France and

Germany. Consequently, the "migrants" question is at the center of the debate. Politicians,

medias and citizens tend to mix terrorist attacks (ISIS), migrants and even Islam all

together, on purpose or unconsciously.

In September 2015, Robert Ménard, the mayor of a mid-size French city changed

an AFP4 picture to scare the inhabitants of Béziers, his town. By adding posters on the

3 Source: OPFRA Ministry of the interior's own statistics; online 4 French Press Agency

6

picture, he was suggesting that lots of migrants are about to come (yellow title: "They are

coming!"). The second poster on the train says "Free school, free housing and income for

all of them!"). He was definitely not afraid of changing the truth to play on people's fear.

4. Putting migrants & homeless persons face to face

One political strategy is to compare the advantages refugees have to the homeless

person's or even to French citizens in general. The important question here is whether it

is morally possible to hierarchize misery? Are French homeless more important than

foreign migrants? Or maybe the opposite? There shouldn't be an answer because this

question shouldn't be.

This strategy5 from far-right politicians points out the fact that some migrants are hosted

in hotels or abandoned castles whereas there are still homeless people living in the streets.

The truth is, a French citizen may have access to a specific housing program, plus social

housing. Finally: emergency housing, to which migrants also have access. In general,

migrants are accommodated with very delicate "housing" such as tents and camps (e.g.

Calais).

5 Le Monde, rather at the left of the political spectrum,

Bezier's magazine

after photoshopping

Original picture from AFP

taken in Macedonia

7

5. Calais

Calais is a city in the North of France, the closest point to Great Britain and also

the starting point of the Eurotunnel. Between 6.000 and 8.000 migrants were living there

when the camp has been demolished (October 2016). Their objective was to reach Dover

(England) hiding in trucks or via the port. A security problem for which 1.900 policemen

were involved6. The concerned migrants are now being dispatched to various regions of

France in CAO (Orientation and Welcoming Center).

The living conditions in this camp are "[disgraceful and not respectful of human

rights]"7 according to Jacques Toubon, a human right's defender. People live in very small

houses made of found materials, and public health risk is high. The demolishment of some

part of the camp earlier made the living conditions in the remaining areas even worse. To

aggravate the situation, some police violence has been revealed several times through

videos. Some are still being judged at the moment.

6 L'Express, rather at the right of the political spectrum 7 La Voix du Nord (local newspaper)

Calais

8

II. The rise of Nationalism in Europe:

1. Example of France:

For several years, the political party FN (Front National) has gained more and

more power in the French population. The reasons to that are multiple. First, the

representative of the party has changed. Jean-Marie Le Pen left his place to his daughter,

Marine Le Pen, younger and closer to the population. Moreover, she learned from the

misbehaviour of his father and she developed a softer speech that conveys the same idea

as before, but in a more socially correct way. It is been many years that FN win slowly

part in the political game in France, but since the Arab Spring, more and more citizen

start to see in Marine Le Pen a possibility to bring change and to exit from the endless

fight between the republicans (ex-UMP party) and the democrats (PS party). Indeed, a

large part of the population does not believe anymore in the action of the two main

political parties8 . When the republicans are in control, they conduct action that the

democrats would do. And when the democrats are in power, they conduct action that

republicans would do. Therefore there is no difference anymore between those two parties

and population is tired of this competition that brings no concrete solution to their daily

problems. Even if citizens do not truly rely on the idea of the Populist Party, they are

willing to vote for it in order to make some changes, even if it means having a government

that is willing to close frontier and expulse immigrants and refugees out of the country.

To understand why people are ready to accept this kind of politics, it is important to

highlight that due to the economic crisis, more and more middle class families have to

move and live in suburban region, because of the rise of property price in large city, such

as Paris or Marseille. Their delocalization into what is called “sensitive district” raised

some issue. Indeed, the families of immigrants that were already living there saw those

middle class family as a threat as there were not from the same community and culture9.

And on the other side, the middle class families were afraid of living in those districts and

start to develop anger against immigrants as they saw them as the root of all the problems

(stealing jobs, security issue etc.). That is how people get sick of being forced to live in

mixed community. Therefore, as more families had to move in those districts, as more

children had been raised in this unhealthy atmosphere of fear of each other, naturally

8 Cl. H, Justice et paix Europe lance une action contre le nationalisme et l'exclusion, La Croix, Février 18,

2015. Catholic center-right newspaper. 9 Bel, C., On vote Front National, Le Monde, Décembre 16, 2015.

9

more people are willing to listen to the argument of the Populist Party and are willing to

vote for what they offer. Even if it is not the right choice, even if it will only increase this

feeling of fear.

2. What can be done against Nationalism?

How to change people's mind? How to make a population understand - which is

so angry about the passive action of their past governments - that closing frontiers and

protecting themselves behind a wall is not the good choice. Because when the wall will

fall, and it will someday, it will only be too difficult for them to catch up with the rest of

the world that would have continue without them. It is truly crucial to understand that

closing the door to each other is a considerable mistake. Because it would mean that we

are closed to the rest of the world, we are closed to the chance to be reunited and therefore

being stronger against common enemies, such as ISIS. But also it is very important to

stand together in order to achieve common goals, such as saving our planet from its

ecological destruction. Populations, not only in France, but also all over the globe, need

to understand that there are larger issues than the threat of their personal interest. In order

to change minds, we need more people to raise consciousness and awareness about those

issues. We need the young generation to travel and discover other cultures to start the

process. Participating to the SCI Do it Project for refugees have done that for us. We have

realized how important it is to stay close to each other, especially if our neighbour is not

from the same origin as ours. We can learn so many things from one another, and even

more when we are not from the same culture, because we have different points of view

and understandings of situations and therefore it is rewarding for both to be able to listen

and understand each other. That is how we can fight fear of different and unknown,

misunderstanding, prejudice and narrow-minded people. It is not by staying alone and

keeping away a problem that we can solve it, it is by becoming allies with various people,

with diversity, and facing it. A way to fight against populism would be to implement

some volunteer work in refugee asylum or make mandatory that every French student

have to spend a semester abroad to meet people from other culture. There is a huge lack

in the French educational system. Children do not get an education that allows them to

open their mind to others, to understand and to listen to different points of view. With a

government that want to close the frontier in order to limit even more non-French people

to come in the country, how will those children be confronted to difference? How will

they learn to be tolerant and to reward diversity?

10

Conclusion:

In conclusion, having a nationalist government would do much more damage than

it would provide benefit. As we saw in the first part of this paper, refugees and immigrant

are not so many accepted in France, it is not like the country is invaded and that there is

a real need of protection. We should not be afraid of opening to each other. Especially if

it could totally change the way we were seeing the world before. It would also bring

awareness about the danger of political ideas such as FN in France or Donald Trump in

the USA. We are in a time where things are going faster and change really quickly. We

will have struggle to adapt ourselves, as it is going so fast. We just have to look to new

technology to be convinced that we will soon be obsolete toward what we are creating10.

The only way to survive and to adapt ourselves is to embrace all those changes, to accept

them and to work all together to face not only enemies, but also the way we are evolving.

Closing frontier, and keeping population separated from others, is a protection in reaction

of the fear we are feeling toward all those changes. Changes that older generation do not

understand. But it is like staying in a house and feeling safe while a hurricane is coming

to it. This feeling of protection is fake and will be destroyed by the strength of those

upcoming changes. Thanks to international studies, younger generation have been able to

go abroad and meet different kinds of people that helped them construct their opinion. It

is the moment for younger generations to have an impact on the decision that will be

made and that can make either serious damage nor save population, like did Germany.

We all need to transfer this awareness and to bring light to other people that can struggle

to understand the real consequences of a populist politic.

10 T.L. Friedman, Dancing in a Hurricane, The New York Times, Opinion Pages, November 19, 2016.

Democrat newspaper.

11

Bibliography:

- Ministry of interior, [Online]:

http://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr/Info-ressources/Statistiques/Tableaux-

statistiques/Les-demandes-d-asile-statistiques

- EUROSTAT, March 4th, 2016

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7203842/3-04032016-AP-

FR.pdf/078f4e14-8bb7-45d2-bdbf-8bb3881270b2

- Damgé, M., (October 13th, 2016) À quoi les migrants ont-ils vraiment le droit en

France?, Le Monde [Online]

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Opinion Pages