{"id":6959,"date":"2016-02-09T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T07:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=6959"},"modified":"2016-02-18T10:18:26","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T10:18:26","slug":"refugees-welcome-germany-reacts-pt3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/refugees-welcome-germany-reacts-pt3\/","title":{"rendered":"Refugees Welcome? Germany Reacts (Pt3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I write this, it\u2019s exactly 4 months since my last post on the refugee crisis in Germany. Last time I wrote about it, it seemed Germans, with the exclusion of some far-right groups, were largely supportive of the influx of refugees that had arrived in their country. However, since the sexual assaults and muggings<\/a> that took place in K\u00f6ln<\/strong> on New Year\u2019s Eve, public opinion in Germany seems to have changed a lot.<\/p>\n

As always, I\u2019ve been keeping up with the news on this topic and have collected another selection of articles on it to share with you. As I said before, it can sometimes be a challenge to take in your own<\/em> country\u2019s politics, let alone another\u2019s, so I hope that this selection of articles will give you an easy means of finding out what\u2019s going on in Germany at the moment.<\/p>\n

There is lots of vocabulary to learn along the way and at the bottom of the post, and I’ve included equivalent German language articles for each English article I’ve posted, so you can read the news in German, too. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\""FOCUS"<\/a>

German magazines with headlines about refugees. The headline on the left says ‘The truth about fake refugees’, while the one on the right says ‘Greedy? Hungry. Xenophobia is poisoning Germany.’ Photo by hinkelstone on flickr.com under a CC license 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Pubs and clubs in German town of Freiburg forbid refugees<\/a><\/p>\n

A group of nightlife spots in Freiburg have banned refugees from entering their venues. This was a direct reaction to the attacks in Cologne on New Year\u2019s Eve, plus a string of other reported crimes in the area as of late. Here’s a German article on this, called Freiburger Clubs sperren Asylbewerber aus – <\/a>Clubs in Freiburg lock asylum seekers out. <\/em><\/strong>The terms die Fl\u00fcchtlinge<\/strong> (refugees<\/em>) and die Asylbewerber<\/strong> (asylum seekers<\/em>) are often used interchangeably in the news.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Austrian government to fine refugees that refuse to learn German and integrate<\/a><\/p>\n

Over in Austria, the government have announced plans to fine refugees who aren\u2019t willing to learn German, contribute to society, and integrate. They hope this measure will ensure all refugees integrate successfully into Austrian society. Here’s a German article on the subject with the headline Wer sich nicht integrieren will, wird \u00d6sterreich verlassen – <\/a>He who does not want to integrate will leave Austria. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00d6sterreich have also introduced what they call die Obergrenze<\/strong> –\u00a0 die Grenze<\/strong> is a border or limit, so die Obergrenze<\/strong> is like an upper border <\/em><\/strong>or, in this case, an upper limit. <\/em><\/strong>Basically, Austria have put a cap on how many more refugees they can take. Once that Obergrenze<\/strong> has been reached, the Austrian Grenze<\/strong> will be closed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Legal learning: German and Syrian immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n

In this interesting article, comparisons are drawn between the Syrian refugees in Germany today and the German immigrants in America during WW1. This was called die \u00dcberseewanderung – <\/strong>overseas migration<\/em>, with German-Americans being known as die Deutschamerikaner. <\/strong>Who knows? Syrian immigrants might be called die Syrienbriten <\/strong>– ‘Syrian Britons’ – in years to come!<\/p>\n

\"Fl\u00fcchtlinge<\/a>

Refugees in Germany. Photo: 95213174@N08 on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Polls show most Germans fear refugee burden too great<\/a><\/p>\n

The public broadcaster ZDF has released new polls regarding public opinion on the refugee crisis in Germany. Amongst other things, it reveals that more Germans now fear refugees following the sexuelle \u00dcbergriffe und\u00a0\u00dcberf\u00e4lle <\/em><\/strong>(sexual assaults and muggings)<\/em> in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. Here’s a German article on the subject, titled Mehrheit der Deutschen hat Angst vor Masseneinwanderung – ‘<\/em><\/a>Most Germans fear mass immigration’.<\/em> It also states that Germans are not, however, ‘Eine Nation von Fremdenfeinden’ – a nation of xenophobes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Refugees\u2019 chosen as Word of the Year 2015 in Germany<\/a><\/p>\n

The Gesellschaft f\u00fcr deutsche Sprache<\/strong> (Society for German Language) chose Fl\u00fcchtlinge<\/strong> \u2013 refugees<\/em> – as the Wort des Jahres<\/strong> (Word of the Year) for 2015. Sixth on the list was Durchwinken<\/strong>, meaning to wave through<\/em>, which referred to how other European countries \u2018waved through\u2019 migrants on their way to Germany. Here\u2019s a short German article about it from the newspaper Die Zeit,<\/a> should you want to read some German today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/a>

Angela Merkel. Photo by 95213174@N08 on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Could Europe\u2019s refugee crisis be the undoing of Angela Merkel?<\/a><\/p>\n

This article looks at how both public and political opinion has turned against German Kanzlerin<\/strong> (Chancellor) Angela Merkel in recent months, and how she herself is beginning to back-track on some of her previous statements about refugees. This German article, Bleibt Merkel beim ‘Wir Schaffen Das’?<\/a> is on a similar topic. The headline translates to ‘Is Merkel standing by her statement, ‘We will manage it’?<\/strong><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

To see my previous posts on this topic, click here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here. <\/a><\/p>\n

Related vocabulary<\/h2>\n

Right-wing (ideologies\/activities)<\/strong> – der Rechtsextremismus<\/p>\n

Left-wing (ideologies\/activities)<\/strong> – der Linksextremismus<\/p>\n

Xenophobe<\/strong> – der Fremdenfeind (literally ‘enemy of foreigners’) \/ der Fremdenhasser (literally ‘hater of foreigners’)<\/p>\n

Fine (penalty)<\/strong> – die Strafe<\/p>\n

Mass immigration<\/strong> – die Masseneinwanderung<\/p>\n

Sexual assault <\/strong>– die sexuelle \u00dcbergriffe<\/p>\n

to integrate<\/strong> – integrieren<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related words and slogans used in German:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wir Schaffen Das<\/strong> – We will manage it – Angela Merkel’s now-famous ethos about the refugee crisis<\/p>\n

die Fl\u00fcchtlingspolitik<\/strong> – refugee politics<\/p>\n

die Fl\u00fcchtlingsfrage<\/strong> – literally ‘the refugee question’, meaning the topic or issue of the refugee situation<\/p>\n

die Obergrenze<\/strong> – Austria’s ‘upper limit’ on refugees entering the country.<\/p>\n

Durchwinken<\/strong> – ‘to wave through’, referring to how other countries ‘wave refugees through’ on their way to Germany.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

As I write this, it\u2019s exactly 4 months since my last post on the refugee crisis in Germany. Last time I wrote about it, it seemed Germans, with the exclusion of some far-right groups, were largely supportive of the influx of refugees that had arrived in their country. However, since the sexual assaults and muggings…<\/p>\n

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