It has now been almost exactly seven years since the Peitingen women Gabriele Sanktjohanser (58) and Sabine Haser (58) launched the asylum group in the market town.
A conversation about historical sentences, volunteer help as a part-time job and the concern about a new wave of refugees.
In August 2015, during the refugee crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel said a sentence that has gone down in history: We can do it. Was she right?
Haser:
That's an interesting question.
I would say that we managed the tasks that we had in Peiting.
When the sentence was mentioned, the refugee crisis in the district was already in full swing; a year earlier you had set up the helpers group in Peiting. What were your motivations back then?
Sanktjohanser:
You heard in the news about the problems in connection with the refugees, so we wanted to help somehow. I then called a friend who I knew had been involved in the Schongau Helferkreis for a long time. I asked her if she had anything to do for us. As luck would have it, the first refugees had arrived in Peiting just before that. The plan was that we wanted to offer them one hour of German lessons a week. In the apartment that the District Office had rented, we met seven Syrians who were completely helpless, who did not know where to shop, where they had ended up in the first place. That's how we got in, and the one hour of support sometimes turned into a part-time job.
If someone had told you then that you would still be there seven years later, what would you have answered them?
Haser:
We wouldn't have believed it.
Seven years, that is a very long time.
What did the refugee work in Peiting look like at the beginning?
Haser:
At the beginning, new refugees arrived in the district every day, which was a huge organizational challenge for everyone involved. There was nothing but a great willingness to help. In the helpers group in Peiting alone, we were 120 volunteers at the time who wanted to get involved. We were the first to organize German courses together, there were no official offers.
Sanktjohanser:
Many refugees came without clothes or only had what they were wearing on their skin. We took care of them through the dressing room. Sometimes over 20 people worked there, sorting and distributing the donated things. Then we started collecting furniture for the initial furnishing of the apartments. The Radlstadl was added later.
Rabbit:
A major focus of our work was also on giving people who had left everything behind, for whom arriving in a foreign country was a real culture shock, the opportunity to exchange ideas.
Sanktjohanser:
Many from the Helferkreis got involved.
Sometimes you went on a mountain tour together or went swimming, some have organized overnight stays in huts.
There was great solidarity there.
How has your work changed over time?
Haser:
At some point there were more and more refugees from Afghanistan and other cultures who knew that it would be difficult to get recognition. We then decided that I would care more about these people, Ms. Sanktjohanser about those whose prospects of a right to stay were much better.
Sanktjohanser:
This included above all the Syrian refugees, who then needed their own apartment with the recognition.
I was busy with that almost non-stop.
Call, explain who you are looking for an apartment for.
That wasn't always funny and has become even more difficult today because of the housing shortage.
But also support in looking for a job, in registering the children for kindergarten and school.
There was a lot to do there.
At the same time, it was fun because you had a perspective.
Not so with those who hoped in vain for their recognition.
Haser:
At the beginning we were a bit naive, had the idea that if they learned German, then it would work out.
If you deal with asylum law, you know of course that there are clear rules about who is allowed to stay and who is not.
When one negative answer after the other came in, it was of course very stressful for the people, and there were unbelievable fears.
But such a situation is not easy for the helpers either.
Even if you spoke of the great willingness to help in the village, there were definitely concerns among the population about the many newcomers, especially at the height of the wave of refugees. How did you perceive that and how do you react to it?
Sanktjohanser:
Of course we noticed. Especially when the attacks happened in Cologne, it got boiled up. My opinion is that only personal experience can change thinking. If I only know Muslims from descriptions that are scary, I cannot dispel reservations. It has often helped to talk about our own work or to invite people to face-to-face meetings. The exchange is important.
Haser:
It also helped when the refugees found work. Often there were sentences like "That's a really nice guy". Cologne was actually a drastic incident, because the feeling in the population has turned. The people in Peiting also told us afterwards that they now treat the refugees with more reservations.
Sanktjohanser:
Our endeavor right from the start was that something like this would not happen in Peiting, that social peace could be maintained.
To do this, you have to make sure that people are well received and able to integrate.
Have you ever had to justify yourself in town for your commitment to the refugees?
Haser:
Openly not, but we both received anonymous letters in which we were hostile.
But that was only in the beginning.
Sanktjohanser:
But I was never afraid or had the feeling that I was personally at risk because of that.
It was always clear to me that I would continue.
And if you ask around in Peiting, the biggest problem the population has with the refugees is sorting waste (laughs).
Have there been times when you toyed with the idea of throwing away?
Haser:
I sometimes had seizures like this when I had the feeling that nothing was going on.
But that had nothing to do with the people, but rather with the bureaucracy that sometimes drove me crazy.
Sanktjohanser:
The many forms were really hell at the beginning, but luckily the migration advisors are now helping.
In the past few years you have met many refugees and their fates, some of which were moving. How close do you let something like that get in touch?
Haser:
Different.
Depending on the relationship you have.
If you get to know the people better, it becomes difficult.
You can't always just dismiss that.
I then try to map out ways in which it could go on.
Sanktjohanser:
Thank goodness we were offered supervision, that was important right from the start.
When people told them what happened to them in their homeland and when they were on the run, and felt their fears, I often felt really bad.
I knew then that I had to seek professional help so that I could keep a certain distance.
Otherwise you cannot help, you will need help yourself.
Which personal story did you particularly remember?
Haser:
I have several, but I don't want to talk about them in public.
They are all very personal and really bad.
I've given up asking about it.
Of course, if you want to tell me your story, I'll listen.
But otherwise I think it is important to follow the path here with you or to consider how it can be.
Sanktjohanser:
I
feel the
same way.
The issue of asylum has largely disappeared from the public in Peiting. Conversely, does that mean that the integration was successful?
Haser:
You could say that, although you always have to talk about what exactly is meant by integration.
We have a lot of people who work and go to school, which is very positive.
Sanktjohanser:
Before our conversation, I added it up again: There are currently 80 adults and 80 children in the community who are looked after by twelve volunteers.
The majority is recognized.
Haser:
Although it has to be said that we no longer have any contact with some families.
On the one hand, this is due to the corona pandemic, and on the other hand, it is no longer manageable with the small number of volunteers.
So there is currently a lack of support?
Sanktjohanser:
Yes, we urgently need helpers again who can get in touch with one or the other task.
Haser:
It's not about filling out forms all day, but simply greeting a family or meeting the asylum seekers.
We have many who are in training and need someone to learn with them.
Or to accompany someone, for example mothers who have to go to hospital with their children in Garmisch.
Help with learning German is still a big topic.
And of course we would like to reopen our popular meeting café, so support is very welcome.
If you look at the current developments in Afghanistan, do you think that the number of refugees could rise again in the near future?
Haser:
I assume that more will come, as there are already many refugees on the Hungarian border.
Can't stand what happened over there.
How the withdrawal went is really bad.
What would your demands on politics after the experience of the last seven years?
Haser:
Faster asylum procedures and decisions. That people know what they are about. And not three years of proceedings and three years of administrative court. This waiting makes you sick. We should also see the potential of the people who come to us. All over Germany there are vacancies that cannot be filled. Of course one can discuss whether we need workers in the low-wage sector. But we all want to go to dinner and we need someone to serve us there. He won't earn 4,000 euros a month. I also believe that we need to invest more. We cannot assume that people will come and that an education will open up seamlessly. You need support and German courses. These are resources that we should use.
Sanktjohanser:
It would be important to make a cut now and say that the people who have been there for many years will stay now. Many of them speak German, have invested a lot and have children who have never been to their home country. They should be promoted and integrated into the job market. What we must not forget and that is where politicians are called upon: That is the housing shortage. The problem affects not only refugees, but everyone. If you can't find a place to live in the country, then something is wrong. Social housing must be expanded significantly.
Schongau newsletter:
Everything from your region!
Our Schongau newsletter regularly informs you about all the important stories from the Schongau region - including all the news about the corona crisis in your community.
Sign up here.
