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IMMIGRATION

Germany suspends voluntary migrant intake plan with Italy

Germany said Wednesday it has stopped taking in migrants from Italy under a European voluntary solidarity plan, in what could shape up to be a new standoff over asylum seekers in the bloc.

Published: 13 September 2023 13:22 CEST
Federal Office for Migration
Germany's Office for Migration in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Jens Kalaene

The voluntary scheme is aimed at easing pressure on EU border nations that are often the first port of call for migrants.

Under the mechanism, Germany was due to receive 3,500 asylum seekers who had first sought refuge in Italy. But only 1,700 have reached Germany before Berlin decided to pause the intake.

“Given the currently high migratory pressure on Germany, the ongoing suspension of Dublin transfers by some member states, including Italy, reinforces the major challenges Germany is currently facing in terms of its reception and accommodation capacity,” said a spokesman for the interior ministry.

READ ALSO: Influx of asylum seekers to German unsustainable: CDU deputy head

As a result, Berlin had informed Italy of its decision to “postpone until further notice” its intake of migrants.

Under the so-called Dublin procedure, irregular migrants should be registered in the EU country they first enter. Should they head to another nation in the bloc, they could be returned to their EU first port of call.

But Mediterranean countries like Italy have argued that the rules place an excessive burden on border nations, particularly since new arrivals often want to move on and live in other EU countries.

Germany took in over a million asylum seekers, mainly from Syria and Iraq,between 2015-2016 before the arrival numbers began falling sharply. But over the last year, authorities have recorded a big uptick in arrivals again.

Latest numbers provided by federal police show 15,100 irregular migrants arriving in August, up 40 percent from July’s 10,714.

Migrant centres ‘full’

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party won elections a year ago on a promise to stop mass migration, said Wednesday she was not surprised by Berlin’s decision.

Her government temporarily suspended the Dublin rules in December, pointing to “purely technical reasons” linked to over-worked reception centres, or hotspots.

“The issue of relocation is secondary,” she said in an interview to be broadcast later Wednesday.

“The question… is stopping arrivals into Italy. I still don’t see any concrete answers,” she said according to excerpts published by Italian news agencies and confirmed by her office.

She repeated her call for more EU help, adding: “Our hotspots are full.”

The number of migrants arriving in Italy after crossing on boats from North Africa has surged this year, at almost 124,000 since January — up from 65,500 during the same period in 2022, according to government data.

Many land on the island of Lampedusa, where the reception centre on Wednesday warned it was reaching critical capacity.

The Italian Red Cross, which has run the hotspot since June, said more than 100 landings within a few hours left it hosting more than 6,000 people in a facility built for fewer than 400.

“The situation is difficult,” the charity said, warning of the risk of passing a “critical threshold”.

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READER INSIGHTS

‘Told to leave the country’: How foreigners in Germany face xenophobia and racism

In a recent survey, the majority of The Local readers said they felt xenophobia and racism was on the rise in Germany, but personal experiences varied dramatically. Here's what readers said.

Published: 5 September 2024 16:42 CEST
'Told to leave the country': How foreigners in Germany face xenophobia and racism

The word xenophobia comes from the Greek words xénos (foreign) and phóbos (fear), and is defined as the dislike of anything foreign or strange. 

It tends to stem from the perception of a conflict between an in-group and an out-group, and often is related to the fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.

While xenophobia itself refers primarily to the fear experienced by someone, the danger is that xenophobic sentiments lead to racist behaviour–and sometimes violence.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has promoted xenophobic rhetoric for years.

In an investigation into the party earlier this year, Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) identified numerous statements made by AfD officials that questioned if foreign nationals belonged to the German nation, regardless of their level of integration, or even German citizenship.

Partly due to their propensity for promoting xenophobic ideas, the BfV labelled the AfD as an “suspected extremist” organisation – and in the state of Saxony, the local AfD branch was found to be a “confirmed extremist” organisation.

READ ALSO: Germany labels Saxony branch of far-right AfD as extremist

Given the AfD’s strong showing in the recent state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, some are concerned that xenophobia and related racist acts could be on the rise in Germany. 

In a recent survey, we asked our readers if they have experienced a rise in xenophobia or discrimination towards foreigners in Germany.

Of the readers who immediately responded, 58.3 percent said they had noticed a rise, whereas 41.7 percent said they had not.

xenophobia graph

What does xenophobia look like?

In its most raw and ugly form, xenophobia manifests as grotesque acts of racism.

A 35-year-old from Kenya who chose not to share their name told The Local that they were called a racial slur and “shown the Hitler salute” recently while on a boat ride in Lübbenau.

For the record, demonstrating a Hitler salute (also called a Nazi salute or Hitlergruß) is illegal in Germany, along with hate speech, and is punishable by up to three years in prison.

READ ALSO: FACT CHECK – Are people punished for using Nazi slogans in Germany?

But xenophobia is also often expressed with more subtlety.

Jamey, 45, from the US described a situation while camping in Saxony where the campground hosts talked down to him and those he was with, implying they were stupid because they were not German.

Another reader from India explained that xenophobia doesn’t always lead to direct confrontations, but can lead to a palpable sense that people are avoiding you: “Be it at a grocery store, a bus stop or a walk in the neighbourhood,” they said. 

The reader estimated that in their experience roughly 25 percent of people might avoid them or engage in some form of evasion, but that it was enough to make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Many respondents who said they felt xenophobia was increasing cited indirect acts like this, or otherwise verbal altercations, as being the primary example of racism they had experienced.

“It is mostly about smaller things so far,” said a 35-year-old from the Balkans, “But I’ve heard people shout hostile things at foreigners in the street a couple of times in the past year, which I personally didn’t experience before.” They added that they’ve lived in Germany for six and half years.

You might not notice it if you ‘look German’

A number of respondents who said they had not observed a rise in xenophobia or racism directly also noted that they might not immediately be perceived as foreigners themselves.

One respondent who told The Local that she had “not experienced any racism myself,” added that she’s a “white American” with German heritage.

For his part Ali, 56, from London said, “Only once or twice have I ever felt negatively treated as a foreigner here. But it’s not obvious I’m foreign until I open my mouth.”

Another respondent from Finland said that “as a white immigrant” that experience xenophobia “far less than people of colour”.

How does xenophobia affect work and day to day life?

Of those who had experienced xenophobia or racist acts in Germany, quite a few cited experiences in the workplace.

Elvis, who didn’t offer details about his age or location, said that one of his co-workers had referred to him as a “bush man”, and another had reacted with obscenities after seeing him with his wife.

He added that he’s worried rhetoric used by AfD leaders is increasing fear and intolerance of foreigners.

In less severe instances–though still hurtful and problematic–xenophobia in the workplace can come in the form of indirect comments. In some cases people might not even realise that their comments are rooted in xenophobic ideologies.

Carla, 47, from Portugal told The Local that “In the early days at my job, it was common to hear that ‘it was cheaper to hire a southerner than a German for my position’ and ‘I don’t understand why [the company] would hire someone that doesn’t speak German’”.

She added that she has since learned to speak German.

Beyond the workplace, some readers reported experiencing prejudice or racism in other public spaces.

“In the hospital some nurses were behaving in an openly racist manner”, said Hilary, 77, from the UK. Fortunately in her case, others stepped in “to ‘correct’ them”.

Erdi, 35, from Turkey, was also the victim of racist speech recently. He told The Local, “After my two-year-old son had a conflict with a German kid, their parents threatened us, telling us to leave the country if my son would continue to behave like this.”

READ ALSO: ‘I’m worried for my kids’: Foreigners in Germany fearful over rise of far right

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