In a report by a professor from Kiel, numerous asylum seekers complain about the conditions in the German initial reception centers.
Sometimes even basic rights are not respected.
Munich / Kiel - Even the title of Nikolai Huke's work makes the urgency of the topic clear.
It is a quote from a refugee: “Does our life mean nothing?” The report by Professor Huke from the University of Kiel is about the experiences of asylum seekers during the corona pandemic.
How were they dealt with during the crisis?
What did they have to endure on their way to Germany?
For this purpose, Huke interviewed 16 asylum seekers from different countries over a period of several months.
The content of many of the answers cannot be checked, but their drastic nature is frightening and cast a dark shadow on how Germany deals with those seeking protection.
The results of his research have now been published by the organization Pro Asyl.
Asylum seekers accuse: “Inhumane conditions” in German initial reception centers
Asylum seekers complained to Huke, among other things, of “inhumane conditions” in German initial reception centers.
Some felt "like they were in prison" there.
There some people had contact with “racist” police officers and doctors, and the security personnel had repeatedly used violence.
Not only in view of the fact that more asylum seekers are coming to Germany again, a problem to be taken seriously.
The conditions in many homes are already catastrophic.
In his foreword, the author Huke paints a “terrifying picture of the living conditions in refugee accommodation”.
Many of the allegations are terrible, and some of them interfere with fundamental rights.
A selection:
They [the securities] come into the rooms for no reason because the doors have no keys, no matter if someone is naked, having sex, they come in ...
An asylum seeker about a lack of privacy
You share the same toilets with over a hundred people, you cannot follow hygiene rules in such a situation.
An asylum seeker about insufficient corona protection
Catastrophic conditions in German initial reception centers: "Not even animals are treated like this"
They just open your door and come in without even knocking or anything, they invade your privacy and look for electrical devices under your bed.
Not even animals are treated that way.
An asylum seeker on how staff handled them
The shower cubicles had no door, just a plastic curtain and while the young women were showering, the securities simply peeked in there.
The women were afraid to complain.
Refugees are massively affected by the fear that everything they say and do can be used against them.
Those we asked said: we cannot complain about it, not that it harms our asylum procedure.
An asylum seeker about sexual harassment in the initial reception facility in Suhl
Entry into Germany is increasing again: Professor Huke with recommendations for action for the government
Political scientist Huke points out early on in his work that all interviews were conducted “under the impression of trauma, tension and constant stress”. "Here or there a reproach may seem excessive or an experience interpreted too negatively. In their entirety and unanimously, however, the statements of the residents clearly point to structural problems: conscious isolation, lack of financial, social and medical care, racism. "
Huke formulates clear recommendations for action: Apartments are needed instead of collective accommodation, because the residents there suffer from numerous restrictions.
Medical care urgently needs to be improved.
All interviews had provided indications that “the existing system of health care for asylum seekers - not only in the corona pandemic - is inadequate.” Huke also called for fair asylum procedures, an independent complaints office and the expansion of protection against violence.
Humane interaction must be ensured, said the author of the report.
Video: Again more asylum applications in Germany
At the moment, more and more people are coming to Germany again, especially from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and, for some time now, increasingly from Belarus.
By the end of September this year, around 100,000 people had applied for asylum for the first time, 35 percent more than in the same period last year.
What is ahead of them now?
Huke's report makes it clear that something urgently needs to be changed.
(fmü)