The destruction of a refugee shelter in the German city of Dusseldorf is a tragedy that plays into the hands of racist bigots who are relishing the opportunity to condemn the generous policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel toward the flow of desperate migrants mostly from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The $11 million fire that destroyed the hall which had been a shelter for 282 asylum seekers was started by some of the refugees themselves. There can be no excuse for this crime. Two men from North Africa have been arrested. If they are found guilty, they deserve serious punishment. Their actions, like the disgusting assaults on women carried out by a mob of young asylum seekers at Cologne station on New Year’s Eve, is inexcusable on two levels over and above the basic criminality.
First of all, this is no way for a guest to behave in a country which has extended the hand of welcome. But more importantly, the ignorance and brutish behavior of a minority stains the reputation of the majority of refugees and stokes the evil fires of prejudice. The hard truth is that even the most moderate of Germans, with their passion for orderliness and discipline, will have been profoundly shocked at the deplorable events in Cologne and now Dusseldorf.
But the ignorance does not exist simply among a handful of asylum seekers. All the reports of the events leading up to the Dusseldorf blaze point to serious errors by the Germans in charge of the refugee center. The majority of the occupants were Muslim, celebrating the holy month of Ramadan in a strange country for the first time. The early days of fasting are always the hardest. Yet there were Christians among their number who appear not to have been properly segregated during the day when they would continue to eat while others fasted. For some reason or another, it appears that the Christians did not believe that they were being served enough food and protested and disorder spread. The authorities are saying that there had been previous attempts to set fire to the building. This time the arson was all too effective, though thankfully no one was killed or injured in the conflagration.
But the reputation of the asylum seekers has definitely been injured. Something needs to be done to impress upon scandalized Germans that this behavior is as intolerable to the vast majority of migrants as it is to the host country. The problem is that the nearly one million migrants that have found shelter in Germany are inevitably disorganized, not to say disoriented. Different nationals and different communities have been thrown together pell-mell. It has been difficult for a community voice to emerge and make itself heard.
The established, largely ethnic Turkish Muslims in Germany have been looking on with despair. There is an understandable reluctance to say or do anything that would give comfort to the racists of Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) who have formally adopted Islamophobic policies. Yet it is important that Muslims in Germany and community leaders within the asylum seekers speak out and condemn in no uncertain terms the appalling actions of a few stupid idiots. Moreover, responsible people among the refugees must do a better job of impressing upon those who have found shelter in Germany the essential requirement to conduct themselves in a decent and proper manner.
