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Elaine Taylor
AP Language and Composition
13 December 2016
Germanys Refugee Crisis
Immense violence and hazards to safety caused by civil wars in Middle Eastern countries
force the citizens of those countries to leave their homes. These people take refuge in
neighboring Middle Eastern countries, such as Lebanon and Turkey, and in European countries,
such as Germany. Many citizens of the host countries welcome the refugees. However, despite
the refugees need for security and sanctuary, many oppose the foreigners coming to inhabit their
country. This battle of opinions is especially evident in Germany, a country that has taken in an
overwhelming number of refugees. The refugee crisis in Germany disunifies the country due to
economic impacts and the fear, caused by differences between German and Middle Eastern
cultures.
Middle Eastern culture and German culture differ widely. In Germanys Real Problem
With Refugees, Scott Gilmore provides an example of the difference in views of equality; a
global survey of womens equality executed by the Pew Research Center found that 97% of
German men support womens equality, while only 45% of Egyptian men support womens
equality, showing that people from Middle Eastern cultures do not treat everyone equally. There
is also controversy surrounding interactions between refugees and Germans at swimming pools.
Refugees often do not understand German hygienic and body culture standards held at public
pools. In Germany Tells Refugees Dont Touch Women at Pools, Daniel Estrin explains how
German pools require attendees to shower before swimming, but when told to do so, refugees
often respond with, What do you want from me? and they are confused about what is being

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asked of them. Therefore, the refugees do not want to associate with Germans due to being told
their ways of doing everyday tasks are wrong.
Middle Eastern society and the German western society also differ in how individuals
acquire status. According to Hakim Khatbib in his article, Unlike Europe Culture in the Middle
East Is More Ascriptive, In a Middle Eastern society, it is more likely that people ascribe a
status to someone because of who they are, while in a western society people are more likely to
ascribe a status to someone based on what they do. Middle Eastern people value age, wealth,
and family heritage, but people living in a western society, such as Germany, value individual
abilities and strengths. The refugees coming to Germany have a difficult time learning the new
cultural norms since their new environment is completely opposite of the environment in their
home country.
Unfamiliarity often intimidates people, which explains why German citizens, like Sinem
Yaman, fear the refugees. Yaman worries that refugees belong to the Islamic State and they might
commit terrorist attacks, according to Yasemin Ergin, author of Why Are Many Immigrants in
Germany Against Refugees. Actions of certain refugees do not weaken the opinion Yaman and
other Germans have. As stated in Germany Attacks: What Is Going On?, four attacks resulting
in eleven deaths and twenty-five injuries total, occurred in late July of this year (2016) in
Germany. Three of the attackers were refugees from the Middle East, and the fourth attacker
came from an Iranian background. Two of these attacks have been proven to be connected with
the Islamic State. On New Years Eve of 2015, an estimated one thousand women were sexually
abused in several German cities, according to Gareth Davies, author of Revealed: 1,200 Women
Were Sexually Assaulted by 2,000 Men in German Cities on New Year's Eve. Approximately
six hundred assaults were committed in Cologne and about four hundred were committed in

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Hamburg. Of the one hundred twenty identified assaulters, about half were foreign refugees
(Davies). In Cologne Sex Attacks: Women Describe Terrible Assaults by BBC News, a
woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, describes her traumatizing experience:
All of a sudden these men around us began groping us. They touched our behinds
and grabbed in between our legs. They touched us everywhere...I thought to
myself that if we stay in this crowd they could kill us and nobody would
notice...There was no one around us who helped...All I wanted was to get out
(Cologne...).
These events tremendously impact the German general public, and lead them to be
hesitant to accept the refugees. In Migrant Crisis: Changing Attitudes of a German City by
Howard Johnson and Tobias Bruer, Khaled Kohestani, a refugee from Afghanistan, describes
the attitudes of the Germans, When we get on the bus in our country everyone is friendly, he
says, but here people are just sitting and they want to keep their privacy. Vera Hufer, an elderly
German native believes many Germans dont want to deal with the whole thing...They just close
their mind, (Johnson and Brauer). The Germans reluctancy to welcome refugees disunifies the
country because many Germans isolate the refugees instead of embracing their presence.
According to Rick Noack in Why So Many Immigrants in Germany Are Opposed to the
Refugee Influx, Germans want their government to focus on their own problems, instead of
trying to solve everyone elses. Agence France-Presse, author of Germany Expects up to
300,000 Refugees in 2016, Official Says, thinks it is a reasonable reaction to reject refugees as
nearly 1.1 million refugees arrived in Germany last year[and] Germany expects up to
300,000 refugees to arrive this year. Despite the understandable aspect of the countrys reaction,
the situation still creates bitter feelings among Germans regarding housing refugees in their

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country and resentment towards their government officials. This can lead to an extremely
negative political outcome if not soon addressed.
Due to the large number of refugees in Germany, the government has difficulty finding
available, adequate environments for them. Cities often provide expansive opportunities, leading
many refugees to want to live in heavily inhabited areas instead of in rural areas. The German
government is supposed to equally distribute the refugees, but this distribution system imposes
unique burdens on large cities since it does not take into account higher population densities,
special housing conditions of these urban communities, or secondary migration patterns, says
Bruce Katz, Lulse Noring, and Nantke Garrelts in their article, Cities and Refugees: The
German Experience. The uneven distribution creates difficulty in finding adequate space for
refugee housing and education, as cities are already heavily populated. Refugees are then not
able to easily integrate into German society and become successful.
Because of refugees struggles to attain proper living arrangements, they create a strain
on the economy. They are not immediately taught to speak German, which prevents an employer
from hiring any refugees because of the language barrier. The refugees still need money to buy
their necessities, but many are unemployed, which requires dependency on the government.
When compared with other immigrants, refugees from Middle Eastern countries are 17% more
likely to rely on benefits as income, and 15% less likely to be employed. The percentages
eventually decrease, but still remain even with refugees living in Germany for over twenty years,
according to the article, For Good or Ill. Surpluses in Germanys budget will take care of the
refugees expenses. However, these surpluses are paid totally by taxpayers, and it could take
several years to pay off the 11 billion euro expense for 2016 according to Markus Dettmer and
Christian Reiermann in their article Budget Battle Begins over Germanys New Residents.

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This is unfair to established German citizens and causes them to be even more resentful towards
refugees.
Taking in refugees may be viewed as the moral duty of Germany. The people of the wartorn countries are in danger and must leave. In Jill Petzingers article, In a Rare Show of Regret,
Angela Merkel Admits She Lost Control of Germanys Refugee Crisis, Angela Merkel,
Chancellor of Germany, describes letting refugees into Germany as doing what is morally and
legally obliged and she would not change her decision if given the chance. However, Merkel
admits to mistakes in the refugee policy, which was to open the borders to make it easier for
refugees to migrate. This open-door policy allowed for millions of asylum claims to be
submitted, which was far too many for Germany to handle. There is an enormous strain on the
countrys bureaucracy to process claims and although immense progress has been made, about
530,000 cases will remain by the end of 2016 (France-Presse). The way the German government
handles the refugee situation results in distrust from German citizens, leading to the countrys
disunification.
In order to allow the 1.1 million refugees into Germany, the government made
compromises of their accommodations and care. Many refugee centers lack proper care,
especially for women. Marcy Hersh and Katharina Obser, authors of Falling Through the
Cracks: Refugee Women and Girls in Germany and Sweden, reveal that single women or
women with children, and unaccompanied girls are sometimes placed together with men they do
not know in the reception centers. Also, many centers do not provide separate bathroom areas
for men and women. The immense amount of asylum applications to process forces the refugees
to stay in the crowded reception centers longer than intended and the boredom and stress of
uncertainty has a number of dangerous consequences, including domestic violence, explain

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Hersh and Obser. From November 2015 to January 2016, thirty-seven sex crimes committed in
refugee centers were reported in Sweden, who, like Germany, has had a large number of refugees
(Hersh and Obser). Sex abuse is not only committed by refugees, but also by center staff. Nine
guards at the Cologne center were accused of sexual abuse against refugees, including minors, in
February of 2016 (Hersh and Obser). Refugees do not deserve to experience these situations.
They have already been traumatized by having to leave their homes, and being sexually abused
only makes matters worse. Victims of sexual abuse will only have a negative impression of their
host country, making it more difficult for them to want to be a contributing member of German
society.
Women, specifically mothers, are also neglected in terms of education received at refugee
centers. Because they have to watch over their children, they cannot attend language classes or
other activities the centers offer (Hersh and Obser). This puts the women refugees at a
disadvantage, compared with the men. They cannot easily transition and contribute to German
society because they do not understand the German language. The number of uneducated
refugees places a burden on Germany. As mentioned previously, they cannot easily find
employment to support themselves and end up relying on the government for money (For Good
or Ill).
The refugee crisis in Germany could easily be made into a total success with people of all
opinions supporting the idea. If the refugees had better accommodations and education about
German culture, native Germans would be more understanding and would help the refugees get
on their feet. To do this, the number of refugees admitted into Germany has to be limited. Even
though the stream of refugees coming in would decrease, those arriving would be more
successful in the German society in the long run because of specialized attention they would

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receive at refugee centers The centers need to prioritize education, and make classes accessible to
everyone. With everyone speaking the same language, miscommunication or disconnection
would not exist, therefore unifying the refugees and Germans. Centers also need to provide
adequate separate spaces for men and women and properly train and background-check their
staff to avoid undesirable sexual conduct. This would help to prevent any traumatizing
circumstances from occurring, insuring all refugees have a positive experience. Just by doing
these simple things, Germany can successfully take in refugees and unify the country behind
supporting those refugees.

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Works Cited
"Cologne Sex Attacks: Women Describe 'terrible' Assaults." BBC News. BBC, 07 Jan.
2016. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Davies, Gareth. "Revealed: 1,200 Women Were Sexually Assaulted by 2,000 Men in
German Cities on New Year's Eve." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 15 July
2016. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Dettmer, Markus, and Christian Reiermann. "Budget Battle Begins over Germany's New
Residents" SPIEGEL ONLINE. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Ergin, Yasmin. "Zuwanderung: Warum Viele Migranten in Deutschland Gegen
Flchtlinge Sind." FAZ.NET. Frankfurter Allgemeine, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Estrin, Daniel. "Germany Tells Refugees Don't Touch Women at Pools." USA Today.
Gannett Satellite Information Network, 06 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
"For Good or Ill." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 23 Jan. 2016. Web. 29
Nov. 2016.
France-Presse, Agence. "Germany Expects up to 300,000 Refugees in 2016, Official
Says." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Aug. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
"Germany Attacks: What Is Going On?" BBC News. BBC, 25 July 2016. Web. 1 Dec.
2016.
Gilmore, Scott. "Germany's real problem with refugees." Maclean's 25 Jan. 2016: 36+.
Global Issues in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

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Hersh, Marcy, and Katharina Obser. "Falling Through the Cracks: Refugee Women and
Girls in Germany and Sweden." PsycEXTRA Dataset (2016): 6-7. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Johnson, Howard, and Tobias Bruer. "Migrant Crisis: Changing Attitudes of a German
City." BBC News. N.p., 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Katz, Bruce, Luise Noring, and Nantke Garrelts. "Cities and Refugees: The German
Experience." Brookings. N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Khatbib, Hakim. "Unlike Europe Culture in the Middle East Is More Ascriptive."
Mashreq Politics & Culture Journal. N.p., 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Noack, Rick. "Germany Welcomed More than 1 Million Refugees in 2015. Now, the
Country Is Searching for Its Soul." The Washington Post. WP Company, 14 May 2016.
Web. 1 Dec. 2016.
Petzinger, Jill. "In a Rare Show of Regret, Angela Merkel Admits She Lost Control of
Germanys Refugee Crisis." Quartz. N.p., 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.