The children of Syrian refugees are being told to “go home” at their schools and kindergartens in Germany, as tensions over migration rise. Immigration has become a hot political topic in Germany, as elsewhere around Europe.
Syrians were welcomed in their hundreds of thousands into the EU country in 2015, following the outbreak of the brutal civil war. More than 320,000 refugees settled in Germany that year, with the then Chancellor Angela Merkel confidently claiming “we can do it”. Today there are roughly 948,000 Syrians currently living in Germany, who face an uncertain future as the government continues its crackdown on immigration.
Public attitudes towards migration have hardened across Europe, but particularly in Germany.
A poll carried out by the Tony Blair Institute in February found that across six European countries surveyed, Germans were most likely to cite immigration as one of their top concerns.
The growing hostility towards migrants has even reached school playgrounds, according to the head of the German Syrian Aid Association.
Nahla Osman told the news website Deutsche Welle (DW): “Unfortunately, we have heard that children are being told: ‘You are Syrian, go back.’ Many children are reluctant to even speak Arabic now.”
Germany’s AfD has skilfully exploited social tensions around immigration to increase its support, which surged in the February general elections.
The far right party became the second largest in the German parliament , winning 10.4% of the national vote and 83 seats.
In an attempt to stem the rising support for the AfD, the centre-right current Chancellor Friedrich Merz has introduced a crackdown on immigration.
One measure taken has been to scrap the so-called fast-track naturalisation scheme, making it much harder to obtain citizenship.
Another has been to provide financial assistance to anyone wishing to return home to Syria, with payments of up to €4,000 available for travel and initial living costs. However, the take-up has been low, with only around 2,900 people agreeing to leave voluntarily.
