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IMMIGRATION

Football club reject Bild’s pro-refugee campaign

FC St. Pauli, Hamburg's second football club have refused to participate in a campaign to help refugees being run by right-wing tabloid Bild.

Published: 16 September 2015 17:30 CEST
Football club reject Bild's pro-refugee campaign
St Pauli is know for its left-wing identity. Photo: DPA

This weekend, all 36 of the clubs in Germany's top two football divisions were supposed to wear the “we're helping” logo that Bild came up with to advertise its campaign with the German Football Association (DFB) to help the tens of thousands of refugees currently flooding into Germany.

But football magazine Kicker reported on Wednesday that one club isn't cooperating – Hamburg's St. Pauli, who play in the second division and are known for their fans' strong left-wing leanings.

The club said in a statement that it would rather show its support for refugees through practical engagement.

“St. Pauli has been working for weeks to help those people who are currently fleeing to Germany. The friendly game we recently played against Borussia Dortmund, the private efforts of our players and initiatives of our fans are proof of that,” read the statement.

“We therefore decided it was not necessary to take part in this voluntary action organized by the German Football Association,” it continued.

Bild editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann accused the club on Twitter of being hostile to refugees.

“No heart for refugees: that's a shame FC St Pauli #refugeesnotwelcome,” he commented.

But Diekmann's comment appeared to backfire as a groundswell of support emerged for St. Pauli on Twitter, with #BILDnotwelcome turning into the top trending hashtag of the day.

Many people questioned the sincerity of the tabloid's campaign and pointed to what they saw as a xenophobic editorial stance at the newspaper.

One commenter wrote “I still don't believe it: #refugeeswelcome from Bild – what next 'give peace a chance' from [weapons manufacturer] Heckler & Koch?”

Meanwhile fans of various other football clubs encouraged them to follow St Pauli's example.

CRIME

Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Germany said Tuesday it was considering allowing deportations to Afghanistan, after an asylum seeker from the country injured five and killed a police officer in a knife attack.

Published: 4 June 2024 14:50 CEST
Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Officials had been carrying out an “intensive review for several months… to allow the deportation of serious criminals and dangerous individuals to Afghanistan”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told journalists.

“It is clear to me that people who pose a potential threat to Germany’s security must be deported quickly,” Faeser said.

“That is why we are doing everything possible to find ways to deport criminals and dangerous people to both Syria and Afghanistan,” she said.

Deportations to Afghanistan from Germany have been completely stopped since the Taliban retook power in 2021.

But a debate over resuming expulsions has resurged after a 25-year-old Afghan was accused of attacking people with a knife at an anti-Islam rally in the western city of Mannheim on Friday.

A police officer, 29, died on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed as he tried to intervene in the attack.

Five people taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, were also wounded.

Friday’s brutal attack has inflamed a public debate over immigration in the run up to European elections and prompted calls to expand efforts to expel criminals.

READ ALSO: Tensions high in Mannheim after knife attack claims life of policeman

The suspect, named in the media as Sulaiman Ataee, came to Germany as a refugee in March 2013, according to reports.

Ataee, who arrived in the country with his brother at the age of only 14, was initially refused asylum but was not deported because of his age, according to German daily Bild.

Ataee subsequently went to school in Germany, and married a German woman of Turkish origin in 2019, with whom he has two children, according to the Spiegel weekly.

Per the reports, Ataee was not seen by authorities as a risk and did not appear to neighbours at his home in Heppenheim as an extremist.

Anti-terrorism prosecutors on Monday took over the investigation into the incident, as they looked to establish a motive.

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