Germany Is Displacing Afghan Refugees for Ukrainians & More News Here

BERLIN—The knock on the door got here when Parwana Amiri was having breakfast along with her husband and two small daughters. An surprising customer—a social employee—stood exterior, bringing much more surprising information: The household must filter their residence for newly arriving refugees from Ukraine. No questions, no negotiation, simply “out within 24 hours,” they have been instructed.

Amiri, 33, a social activist and refugee from Afghanistan who arrived in Berlin in late January, fleeing the Taliban with the assistance of the German authorities after receiving threats for two consecutive years, is one in every of a whole lot of Afghans throughout Germany who’ve been shunted apart to make method for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine. She requested to make use of a pseudonym to guard her safety.

“The evictions purposefully weren’t publicized. Some people had lived in their homes for years and were ripped out of their social structures, including children who were moved to locations far from their respective schools,” mentioned Tareq Alaows, a board member of the Berlin Refugee Council, a collaboration of various organizations serving to to enhance situations for refugees within the German capital and ensuring their rights are adhered to. Alaows mentioned the federal government justified the evictions by claiming that Afghans have been evicted from so-called “arrival centers” the place they need to solely be staying brief time period anyway. But some households had been residing there for years, whereas different households have been residing in lodging apart from arrival facilities. 

BERLIN—The knock on the door got here when Parwana Amiri was having breakfast along with her husband and two small daughters. An surprising customer—a social employee—stood exterior, bringing much more surprising information: The household must filter their residence for newly arriving refugees from Ukraine. No questions, no negotiation, simply “out within 24 hours,” they have been instructed.

Amiri, 33, a social activist and refugee from Afghanistan who arrived in Berlin in late January, fleeing the Taliban with the assistance of the German authorities after receiving threats for two consecutive years, is one in every of a whole lot of Afghans throughout Germany who’ve been shunted apart to make method for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine. She requested to make use of a pseudonym to guard her safety.

“The evictions purposefully weren’t publicized. Some people had lived in their homes for years and were ripped out of their social structures, including children who were moved to locations far from their respective schools,” mentioned Tareq Alaows, a board member of the Berlin Refugee Council, a collaboration of various organizations serving to to enhance situations for refugees within the German capital and ensuring their rights are adhered to. Alaows mentioned the federal government justified the evictions by claiming that Afghans have been evicted from so-called “arrival centers” the place they need to solely be staying brief time period anyway. But some households had been residing there for years, whereas different households have been residing in lodging apart from arrival facilities. 

“Few people’s living conditions improved, but most were afraid to speak up, afraid it could impact their immigration status,” Alaows mentioned, explaining that round 10 residences had been emptied in Berlin.

A 30-year-old Afghan man, who requested for his identify to be withheld, additionally arrived in Germany in January together with his mom and two youthful brothers, one in every of whom suffers from a coronary heart situation. He mentioned that after the household was evicted from the identical complicated the place Amiri had lived, he—the household’s solely English speaker—was separated from his brothers and mom and supplied lodging in a special a part of town. While some households had been housed within the form of arrival heart Amiri had known as residence in her first months in Germany, others lived in hotel-like housing, all paid for by the German authorities. 

“Of course it’s not the Ukrainians’ fault, but we have to reflect on our solidarity if it’s only targeting certain people. The last months showed that different treatment of refugees is possible, and this needs to be systematically anchored in our society,” Alaows mentioned.

The resolution was made by Berlin’s Senate Department for Integration, Labor, and Social Services, arguing that it was “based on operationally necessary and difficult considerations” and that there was no various as a result of Ukrainians, together with many ladies with youngsters, wanted a roof over their heads and a mattress.

“We regret that this caused additional hardships to the Afghan families [and that] the affected people had to move out of their familiar surroundings and now possibly have to keep up with their social connections with great difficulty,” mentioned Stefan Strauss, the division’s press secretary. He mentioned Berlin had a complete of 83 totally different lodging for refugees, already housing some 22,000 individuals, however that arriving Ukrainians wanted to be consolidated to a couple outlined arrival facilities to simplify processing. Strauss mentioned evicted Afghans got different “permanent” lodging of equal high quality, excluding shared bogs and kitchens.

It’s not all the time fairly so rosy.

Amiri and her household have already been moved twice since their March eviction and now reside in a former lodge on Berlin’s northern outskirts in Reinickendorf that’s marketed as a short lived shelter for people who find themselves “homeless”; it’s the household’s third residence inside a month.

“Securing permanent accommodation isn’t the goal,” a Facebook submit drafted by the Reinickendorf district workplace mentioned of the lodging, and the 2 small rooms with a shared kitchen actually don’t appear to be it. It’s nonetheless higher than the earlier residence the household was put up in the place even bogs have been shared and Amiri quickly came upon that a few of the residents had felony backgrounds; she anxious that it wasn’t secure for her daughters, one 5 years outdated, the opposite simply 8 months outdated.

The household now lives principally with different refugees, however the facility’s supervisor, Rädnitz, who refused to present his first identify, confirmed that the lodging is for people who find themselves “involuntarily homeless.”

The new place doesn’t come low cost. Amiri confirmed a letter detailing how a lot the German authorities is paying for the 2 small rooms and shared kitchen: 37 euros an evening per individual, or about 4,500 euros a month—an exorbitant sum even for the costly capital. And it’s not even clear how lengthy they’ll keep: The household’s first residence, a small however totally stocked container condominium, was theirs till they’d be capable to discover their very own condominium (powerful within the overcrowded capital, even with the German authorities nonetheless paying these prices); time within the new shelter runs out on the finish of July.

“We don’t know where we’re sent to next,” Amiri mentioned. “My daughter had already secured a kindergarten spot. We were slowly settling in until we were told to move. Since then, I’ve had no luck finding a nearby kindergarten with an opening.” And whereas English-speaking social employees have been obtainable to help with immigration paperwork and assist enroll newly arrived refugees in German lessons, no help was offered on the new shelter.

The household’s first residence—the container condominium—was empty and abandoned when Foreign Policy visited in early April, weeks after a number of households had been kicked out. Social employees voiced frustration over the federal government’s remedy of Afghans, in addition to different Middle Eastern and North African refugees.

They pointed to one of many points with Afghans arriving in Germany after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. Most individuals searching for security in Germany enter the asylum system, which grants them short-term residency that’s reevaluated each six months. Depending on the scenario of their residence nation, extensions, and ultimately asylum, are sometimes denied. But most Afghans evacuated since final August skipped this course of solely, instantly receiving three-year residency permits.

“This means that soon after their arrival, Afghans fell into the same category—and are treated—as asylum-seekers who have been granted asylum and who have already been living in Germany for years, able to speak the language and to navigate the system,” a social employee defined on situation of anonymity. “That’s why, even though [Amiri] has just arrived here, she’s not [been] offered the same assistance. According to her immigration status, she should have already been living in Germany for years,” the social employee added.

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany was Europe’s largest host nation for refugees, opening its borders in 2015 to individuals principally fleeing struggle in Syria. More than 1.24 million refugees reside in Germany, though Poland has welcomed some 2.8 million Ukrainians within the weeks because the Feb. 24 invasion.

When the Taliban swept into the Afghan capital final August, Germany flew roughly 5,000 individuals out—most of them Afghans. “Since then, the German government further evacuated roughly 4,000 people, and we managed another 3,000,” mentioned Theresa Breuer, a co-founder of the nonprofit Kabul Luftbrücke. That brings the full variety of Afghans who arrived in Germany after the Taliban’s takeover to roughly 12,000.

But because the begin of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany has registered a minimum of 316,000 Ukrainians fleeing struggle. Berlin, within the nation’s east close to the Polish border, is a primary arrival level for many and has thus far registered 60,000 newcomers. Berlin’s former Tegel Airport, already empty, has since been become town’s largest arrival heart for Ukrainian refugees, with a capability to host as much as 2,600 individuals an evening.

Just like most Afghans, solely a handful of Ukrainians will likely be staying within the German capital indefinitely; the bulk are headed to one of many nation’s 16 states. Amiri, who got here to Germany in late January, registered in Berlin, the place she now holds a three-year residency allow.

“My former boss was killed in Kabul, and after receiving personal threats, I always feared for my life. My daughter keeps asking if the Taliban will come here, and I can finally tell her ‘no.’ This is the first time I’m feeling safe, and I’m grateful because Germany is building a future for my daughters,” Amiri mentioned from her small however vibrant room.

“When images first emerged from Ukraine, I cried for its people. I know war and its horrors. I still cry for them. I just ask that we’re all treated the same. Refugee is refugee.”

Update, April 22, 2022: This article has been up to date to exchange a supply’s identify with a pseudonym attributable to safety issues.

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