Migrant panic as refugee kids told ‘go home’ at schools and kindergartens in Germany | World | News
As tensions over migration mount, children of Syrian refugees are being told to “go home” in their schools and kindergartens in Germany. Immigration has become a hot political issue in Germany, as elsewhere in Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were admitted to the EU country in 2015 following the outbreak of the brutal civil war. More than 320,000 refugees settled in Germany that year, and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel confidently claimed “we can do this.” Approximately 948,000 Syrians live in Germany today, facing an uncertain future as the government continues its crackdown on immigration.
Public attitudes towards immigration have hardened throughout Europe, especially in Germany.
A survey conducted by the Tony Blair Institute in February found that Germans in six European countries cited immigration as one of their biggest concerns.
Increasing hostility towards immigrants has even spread to school playgrounds, according to the head of the German Syrian Aid Association.
Nahla Osman told the news site: German Welle (DW): “Unfortunately, we heard children being told, ‘You are Syrian, go back.’ Many children are now reluctant to even speak Arabic.”
Germany’s AfD skillfully exploited social tensions over immigration to shore up its growing support in the February general election.
The far-right party won 10.4% of the national vote and 83 seats, becoming the second largest party in the German parliament.
Current centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz has launched a crackdown on immigration in an attempt to halt growing support for the AfD.
One of the measures taken was to make it much more difficult to obtain citizenship by canceling the so-called rapid naturalization scheme.
Another was to provide financial assistance to anyone wishing to return to Syria, with payments of up to 4,000 euros for travel and initial living expenses. However, attendance was low; only 2,900 agreed to leave voluntarily.
