Like other Egyptians, during my bachelor studies I dreamed of travelling to Germany to satisfy my ambitions. I saw it as the promised paradise and its citizens as organised beehives. My dream went unfulfilled, and 15 years would go by until I would (...)
Michael Grunewald, the manager of AWO Refugee House in Gotenburger Straße, a pluralistic neighbourhood located in Berlin that is home to many Arabs, Turks, and Iranians, believes that the recent wave of refugees coming into Germany are very (...)
The head of Germany's social democratic party (SPD) headquarters in Berlin, Dennis Buchner, ruled out that opening the German border for refugees could be a long-term electoral manoeuvre by chancellor Angela Merkel and the ruling party. He refuted (...)
New refugees in Germany have encountered several problems: from manipulation by translators in accordance with their political leanings or psychology, and the difficulty of learning the language, to brokers taking advantage of their need for (...)
Manfred Nowak, chairperson of the workers' welfare association (AWO), woke up early one day to find that Nazi graffiti had been sprayed on the walls of a refugees home in Berlin, drawn by rightwingers.
"This is not a real threat," Novak said. "This (...)
Refugees in Europe have more to worry about than the smugglers. Police are chasing them across Europe, but there are those who are trying to help refugees integrate into society, and to legalise their status. Elona Müller-Preinesberger, executive (...)
The concept of a migrant advisory committee is strange to Egyptian and Arab readers, because it is not part of our political reality. The committee is a political entity whose members are elected by foreigners who do not have the right to vote in (...)
Like many other young people Ahmed—who refused to publish his full name—dreamed of living in the west, and to become a businessman in countries distinguished by prosperity and job opportunities, instead of being a carpenter. This is what he thought (...)
Fadia Fouda is a Palestinian woman who lived in Lebanon and had married a leftist during the Lebanese civil war. Given her husband's political ideology their lives were in constant danger in Lebanon, which pushed them to leave Lebanon and go to (...)
Iranian refugee Mitra Robeer came to Germany with her mother and sister in 1998 and currently works as a translator for refugees—Arabs and Persians in particular.
"My sister and I left Iran thanks to a plan my mother formulated. We were both wanted (...)
Everything about the life of an asylum seeker has two sides. The dreams that refugees may have of a Promised Land can shape their destiny, making them indignant or satisfied. If they are looking for safety and the right to a better life, then they (...)
Like other Egyptians, during my bachelor studies I dreamed of travelling to Germany to satisfy my ambitions. I saw it as the promised paradise and its citizens as organised beehives. My dream went unfulfilled, and 15 years would go by until I would (...)