Germany has a problem: frustrated young refugees

The hostel residents had warned repeatedly about Ahmad A., but nothing was done. Now they feel misunderstood and distrust the authorities. It’s an alarming development…

My last visit to a refugee hostel was in Hamburg. Then, too, I was bombarded with questions, but this time I had a big question of my own. This hostel was where Ahmad A., the alleged knife attacker, lived. What I wanted to know was: Who was this 26-year-old who had killed an innocent person in a supermarket in Hamburg’s Barmbek district and seriously injured four others?…

The hostel residents have made serious accusations, particularly against the authorities. Again and again I heard: The authorities don’t want us, that’s why they obstruct us and don’t listen to us! This is a feeling that cannot be allowed to develop. These people already distrusted the authorities in their homelands. Now they say they feel the same over here. The fact that they reported Ahmad to the hostel management on numerous occasions and no one reacted to their complaints, for example, makes them angry. Why did no one react? Why didn’t the police watch him more closely when they knew he was an Islamist? These failures don’t justify Ahmad A.’s murderous actions; preventative measures might, however, have forestalled them. And could forestall others in future…

Many refugees at the hostel were also distrustful of the media: “In the beginning everyone was reporting about us. Now they only report on us when there’s something bad to report.” As Arabs and Muslims, they said, they’re seen as bad people per se, or even as terrorists. “Why should I talk to you? In the end you’re only going to write that Islam is bad!” one resident said to me. Being among the refugees was a bit like being at a PEGIDA rally. At rallies held by this anti-Islamic movement, journalists are often shouted at and called “liars” or “fake news” and people refuse to talk to them…

We must listen to them, listen carefully, and do so continuously, long-term. Otherwise there is a danger that a parallel world could soon establish itself not only in the refugee hostels, but in the minds of the refugees and future German citizens as well.