It is well known that there is a refugee and migrant crisis here in Europe. There are hundreds of thousands of people relocating to countries in Europe. Most of these displaced people are coming from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Many of the refugees come to Germany. Because I am in Germany, many people ask me how the “refugee situation” is. In Würzburg, there are not a ton of refugees, so I can’t provide a super personal answer. However, I can talk about the experiences I’ve had and my opinions.
First off, I must say that almost all the refugees I have met have been incredibly kind and friendly. The majority of them can speak English, if not German. English is certainly the second most useful language here in Germany, and I think that one really CAN manage here without knowing German if he or she knows English. I have talked with quite a few refugees, and they are all trying to integrate themselves into German culture, learn German, and get jobs. They have been perfectly respectful and I don’t see them as a threat. They are just another group of people.
The only unpleasant experience I had was in a dance club when there was a guy who wouldn’t leave me alone. I can’t remember now, but I think he was a refugee. He wasn’t even disrespectful per se, just really annoying. I asked him to leave me alone and he just kept trying to talk to me and dance with me. He didn’t try to grab me or anything inappropriate. It was just weird. I didn’t feel endangered, just uncomfortable. I think that if anything, it was a cultural misunderstanding. Perhaps in the culture he came from, women are not as free or are expected to be more subservient to men. I don’t know. That’s just my speculation.
Last fall, I was having a particularly bad day. I was really upset about some things, but I needed to run errands. I had a refugee stop me on the street to see if I was okay. He said I looked really upset and he was a little concerned. A German would never do that. He then walked around with me for the remainder of my errands to accompany me and distract me from the things that were bothering me. We talked about all sorts of things. I found that to be both sensitive and kind. I honestly would never do that. I’m far too shy.
On Friday night, I was sitting at a fountain by the train station in Würzburg drinking beer with three friends of mine. Two of them were smoking, and two separate people came and asked for a light. One of them sat down about a meter away from us, so I started talking to him a little bit. He was from Libya and had been living in Würzburg for five years. He told me that he actually had a lighter and just asked for a light to have an excuse to talk to people. He said he just wanted to meet people. When I politely declined his request to switch phone numbers, he asked why, of course, but then didn’t press for it. I think it has got to be hard for the refugees to meet people because they are so mistrusted.
Another story: One night I was walking along a main street to the bus stop around nine at night. There was a tour bus driver standing next to the street on my way there. He stopped me to ask if I felt safe walking to the bus stop when there are refugees, being a girl. I told him yes. I haven’t heard of any people I know having problems in Würzburg with the refugees. Of course, some of my friends are afraid to walk at night because the refugees are present. But I think their fear is relatively unfounded.
Though I can understand why people are mistrustful of the refugees, I believe that this mistrust is an unfair assumption that comes from stereotyping and cultural misunderstanding. Yes, there are certainly problems in Germany caused by the refugees- such as the attacks in Cologne and other cities on New Year’s. However, I think that these actions are the exception. People are taking the actions of a few and equating them as actions of an entire group. People talk about how the refugees circled women and assaulted them. What people fail to note is that other refugees on the same night formed circles around other women in order to protect them from the attacking men. Plus, crowd mentality in an excited atmosphere can easily lead to problems.
I think that when people are afraid of the refugees they stereotype them all as dangerous, perhaps similar to the way that people of African descent are more commonly convicted of crimes in the United States. I don’t know a whole lot about the justice system, but I have a hard time believing that a certain race is committing such a significant amount more crimes than other (white) races. I suspect bias. In the same way, I suspect bias in the treatment of the refugees.
I was harassed once in Würzburg. With that statement, some people would ask me, “Was it a refugee who harassed you? Was it late at night?” My answer: no. It was a German man at seven in the morning. Broad daylight. For the record, when I just kept walking and ignored the guy, he left me alone after five minutes.
This is my experience. I can’t speak for others. I haven’t really had problems with refugees.
