- Title: Refugees in Germany feel welcomed despite difficulties
- Date: 20th June 2017
- Summary: YAZIDI FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) KURDISH REFUGEE, KHALAF DARWISH (Khalaf is the surname), SAYING ACCORDING TO INTERPRETER ABOUT HOW HE FELT COMING TO GERMANY: "I was happy. I'm very grateful to Germany and to the people in Germany, who helped us escape war as refugees." KHALAF'S FAMILY (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) KURDISH REFUGEE, KHALAF DARWISH (Khalaf is the surname), SAYING ACCORDING TO INTERPRETER ABOUT HOW HE AND HIS FAMILY FEEL IN THE REFUGEE ACCOMMODATION: "I feel at home and I am grateful to the management. They support us with everything." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING VARIOUS OF WOMAN MAKING TEA KURDISH REFUGEE AHMED AL-DALAWI GIVING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (German) KURDISH REFUGEE, AHMED AL-DALAWI, SAYING: "We had a lot of problems with the social welfare office. There was only one, and we had to wait for so long, several days before we were seen and could explain the problems we were having. But that was it, nothing worse than that." AL-DALAWI'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (German) KURDISH REFUGEE, AHMED AL-DALAWI, SAYING ABOUT WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT GERMANY: "Security, peace, the feeling of being safe. That is, when I go out, I don't think that somebody might be about to come and kill me. You go out and feel safe." AL-DALAWI'S EYES CANDLE MANAGER OF REFUGEE ACCOMMODATION ROCCO PRIEWE GIVING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (German) MANAGER OF REFUGEE ACCOMMODATION, ROCCO PRIEWE, SAYING: "The biggest problem is learning German, naturally. Especially for older people, it's not so bad for the younger ones. And of course, as the family was saying before, the struggle with the authorities too." PHOTOS AND CALENDAR ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (German) MANAGER OF REFUGEE ACCOMMODATION, ROCCO PRIEWE, SAYING: "Their problems are really diverse. We get families who have been through really awful experiences. But because we are one of the best facilities here, it's important to the authorities that we do our best for the families. And we can do that here." SIGN ON WALL READING (Arabic and German) "YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW" SYRIAN DOCTOR ABDEL RHMAN ALALI WALKING ALONG STREET IN CENTRAL BERLIN (SOUNDBITE) (German) SYRIAN DOCTOR, ABDEL RHMAN ALALI, SAYING: "It was difficult at the beginning, especially with the authorities, getting my residence permit. That took a long time, about eight months." ALALI'S HANDS CLOSE OF ALALI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) SYRIAN DOCTOR, ABDEL RHMAN ALALI, SAYING: "Lots of people helped me, with the language, with integrating so to speak, also with accommodation, finding an apartment. They were very helpful to me." ALALI'S HANDS ALALI SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST BERLIN STREET
- Embargoed: 4th July 2017 08:37
- Keywords: refugees World Refugee Day Berlin integration experiences
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0036M30SP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:In the eastern Berlin district of Lichtenberg, one of the many communist-era tower blocks is different: its fourth and fifth floors are home to refugees.
Families who have fled from various countries are housed in over 60 accommodation units. Most are from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but there are also people from Saudi Arabia, Kosovo and Iran.
One of the refugees living here is Khalaf Darwish, a 37-year-old Yazidi from Iraq. He has been living in Germany with his wife and seven children for a year and a half after crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. They have all been given refugee status except for his 13-year-old daughter, due to the authorities mixing up Khalaf's first name, Darwish, and his surname.
Despite this problem, Khalaf says he is very thankful to be in Germany.
"I'm very grateful to Germany and to the people in Germany, who helped us escape war as refugees," he told Reuters, adding that the management of the refugee accommodation had been very helpful.
One of the biggest hurdles facing new refugees is the process of registering with the authorities, as another Kurdish refugee, Ahmed Al-Dalawi, explained.
"We had a lot of problems with the social welfare office. There was only one, and we had to wait for so long, several days before we were seen and could explain the problems we were having," he said.
But for Al-Dalawi the waiting was worth it for the feeling of being safe in Germany.
"When I go out, I don't think that somebody might be about to come and kill me. You go out and feel safe," he said.
Learning German can also be difficult, especially for older refugees. The young children in the Lichtenberg accommodation have picked it up quickly.
Childcare is available where only German is spoken, so they are fully immersed for much of the day.
The next step is finding work - and it can take a long time before refugees are permitted to start looking for a job. That was the experience of Abdel Rhman Alali, a Syrian paediatrician who fled his war-torn home country where he would have been forced to complete military service.
"It was difficult at the beginning, especially with the authorities, getting my residence permit. That took a long time, about eight months," he told Reuters.
Alali now has a work permit and works as a doctor in Brandenburg. He says many people helped him along the way, with learning German, finding an apartment and integrating in general.
He is just one of some 1.2 million refugees who have arrived in Germany since 2015. June 20 is World Refugee Day, which the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR marked with a "Global Trends" report. It reported that a record 65.3 million people were uprooted worldwide last year, meaning that 1 in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee, asylum-seeker or internally displaced in a home country. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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