Asylum and crime – fear and reality

An insane young radicalized and presumably Afghan assassin grabs an axe, attacks people on a train indiscriminately, then the rushing police officers and is then shot dead. These were the headlines. The police were also criticized. As always with the use of firearms. But I’d rather not imagine how I would react if an axe murderer rushed towards me and I had a gun in my hand. And I am convinced that the police officers did not act recklessly. However, this is not the topic of this blog. How can we interpret the crime from an intercultural perspective?

At the end of an odyssey

The attacker presumably came from Afghanistan. In fact, most of the refugees who have arrived in Germany in recent months come from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. This is no wonder, as these three countries are the hotspots of the crisis areas in the Middle East. People are fleeing violence, hunger and a lack of prospects. What can they expect in and from their homeland? They have families and struggle to survive every day. These are circumstances still familiar to our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, but fortunately not to the Germans of the post-war generation. I was a soldier myself. That was during the Cold War. Fortunately, it never got hot and I was in the privileged position of being able to just sit there and be a deterrent. Like my 500,000 German comrades. So it’s hard to understand how the refugees really feel and what they’ve been through. All we know is that they left their homes, not voluntarily, but under so much pressure that it seemed better to give up everything and risk their lives on dangerous escape routes than to stay at home. And we also know that families were separated during the flight, or that refugees also tried to fend for themselves individually. This is evidenced by the thousands of minors who have fled to Germany and are now dependent on the help of the youth welfare offices.

Starship Enterprise on earth

Week after week in the sixties and seventies (for younger readers: today it is called Star Trek), the Enterprise ventured into new worlds that no human had ever seen before. This must also be the case for the vast majority of refugees. The countries mentioned are all Islamic states, they have a hot climate and customs and traditions are very different from those in Germany. The entire social order is different, usually more rigid by our standards. These people come to Germany, to a pluralistic society with written rules that are generally followed and different values. The position of women in particular is a prominent example of these differences. Safe at last, but in an unfamiliar world. But there is no Scotty to beam her somewhere else.

Germany helps – and is divided

Mrs. Merkel has made a very generous offer to the refugees. So generous that she now has to make a pact with those who are increasingly trampling on our values. Perhaps that was premature, perhaps not. In any case, many Germans feel blindsided by the large number of refugees and the burdens they bring with them. Pegida and the rise of the AfD are visible proof of this. I am convinced that Germans are generally happy to help and give refuge to people who are being persecuted by war and violence. On the other hand, Germany has taken in more than 1% of our population as refugees since 2015. That is an enormous number. It is not foreseeable that they will return and I am convinced that this is the real problem. There is no end in sight to the conflicts in the Middle East. And I have the impression that everyone tacitly, and probably rightly, assumes that the refugees will stay in Germany either voluntarily or by force. Not an easy situation. What to do? Fortunately, the federal government is doing a lot. Integration and German courses are very important instruments for promoting integration. But this is just the beginning. Integration must also be lived, and only the future will show to what extent this is possible. The example of the Turkish guest workers comes to mind, who also found it very difficult at the beginning, but the majority have now found their place in society. So it’s not just a question of effort, but also a question of time. In the meantime, of course, this issue is being instrumentalized, especially by the right-wing political spectrum. The criminal refugee who gropes women is painted on the wall as a warning sign. But is that really the case?

Statistics can be inconvenient

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, the crime rate among Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian refugees is below average. In fact, it has even fallen! How convenient for all right-wing populists that one of these refugees is going crazy right now. It is also an example of how efforts do not always bear fruit. Had the teenager been left alone? No, he was under the care of the youth welfare office in a refugee camp and then even in a foster family. But something must have gone wrong in his life. He became radicalized. We can only speculate why, but one thing is clear – whatever the trigger was, he couldn’t cope with his situation and the new world. When you consider that the number of refugees has long since exceeded the million mark, it’s not surprising that someone like this would come along. But this is an isolated case. Of course, this does not mean that there are not other cases or that there is no potential for radical Islamists among the refugees. However, this act should be put into perspective. In my opinion, this also means that those who don’t have the slightest idea about the situation of the refugees should pause for a moment and think again before loudly waving banners.

Germany demands – and rightly so

Germany helps – and expects the refugees to adapt. That is our right. They have come to us and sought refuge, not us with them. We are Germans and we don’t want to change our identity or our values. The refugees have to. Everyone knows how difficult this is, but it is also a necessary process if adaptation and integration are to succeed. On the one hand, this means that the refugees have to be familiarized with Germany – learning by doing is not enough! The refugee problem is only one aspect of this. In principle, this applies to all those who settle in our country for a certain period of time or forever. Global Cultures offers integrated intercultural training and coaching in Germany on this topic with great success. On the other hand, it is a decisive advantage to know what makes the people who have come to us “tick”. Mutual understanding is a prerequisite for any measure to bear fruit. Global Cultures also offers a comprehensive range of services in this area, from integrated intercultural training and coaching for Arab countries to country-specific training on Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Perhaps this contribution to cultural sensitization is much more important than expected. In any case, it is more constructive than being guided by stereotypes that are adapted to one’s own sensitivities but not to reality.