What happens to migrants when they arrive in Germany? We visit a school to find out

What happens to migrants when they arrive in Germany? We visit a school to find out

THEY arrive in their thousands, famished and exhausted, many clutching a few belongings in a bag. But for those who have walked across continents or travelled treacherous seas, what becomes of them once they reach Europe?

For some at least, that journey takes them to a school on the outskirts of Munich commandeered by the local authorities to provide temporary accommodation during the largest refugee crisis the continent has seen since the second World War.

Six mobile classrooms at high school Gymnasium Olching have been home for 50 teens aged between 16 and 18 since June. They sleep 10 to a room, with one classroom used for German lessons and meals, with 24-hour security and catered meals at the site.

Principal Beate Sitek told news.com.au it’s a stepping stone in between emergency accommodation and a youth centre they will eventually be moved to.

“It’s the first stage of being in German society and they are just getting used to being here,” she said, adding for many it’s a place to recuperate after an exhausting journey.

The site is tightly managed by local authorities to maintain a sense of privacy for the refugees and their teenage hosts. Entrances are separated with hedges while media are strictly prohibited inside. Every effort goes into providing a warm welcome without getting too attached as it’s still a “transitory stage” in their journey.

“Some of them are heavily disrupted and they know no attachments for months or even years and who are we to cure all that? So we have to be careful,” she said.

The 50 students are seen as the lucky ones in a crisis that is expected to see one million people arrive in Germany this year. That number has been revised up from 800,000 after Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to waive the ‘Dublin rules’ — which state refugees should apply for asylum in the first country they enter — for Syrians which led to tens of thousands entering the country in a few short days in early September.

But as Syrians dubbed her “Mama Merkel” for the welcoming message, Germany was forced to introduce emergency border controls in response to the large numbers. Meanwhile Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary stepped up security on their borders leading to shocking scenes where asylum seekers were tear gassed and sprayed with a water cannon by guards.

Syrian Sleman Shwaish who was granted asylum in the UK in 2012 said it broke his heart to see fellow Syrians being brutally pushed back after trying to get to Europe to save their lives.

“It’s not like any humanity of these pictures. It’s exactly life what the Syrian government is doing or other Arab countries are doing,” he said.

His journey led him to arrive at Heathrow via Turkey in 2012 and be placed in detention until his ID cards were posted by a cousin and he could prove his identity. He said those first few days in a new country are terrifying with no certainty about what is going to happen.

“It’s so difficult when you’ve just moved everything. When you leave your memories and family and friends and come to a new country to build a new life.

“I didn’t want to join the Syrian army and kill my people in this machine, in this killing machine from the regimen. So that’s why I decided to go outside Syria as my parents wanted to save my life,” he said.

In the sports hall at Gymnasium Olching bunk beds for another 150 people stand at the ready with sports lessons cancelled until further notice. While the government-run school didn’t have a choice in the matter, Ms Sitek said the reaction from most parents and students has been overwhelmingly positive.

“They have seen the pictures on TV, in the newspapers, on the internet of course, they have seen the little boy … lying on the beach ... They really are full of compassion and they want to do something for these people.”

However others aren’t happy about their children being forced to do without and are worried that the new arrivals could leave them marginalised — a sentiment that has become more difficult to express given the publication of pictures of Aylan Kurdi and an outpouring of sympathy from large sections of the community.

“There is that undercurrent and one cannot deny it,” Ms Sitek admitted. “One also has to be considerate towards those people who are afraid. You have to find a way to find compromises and to cater to all the different currents that are in the society. It takes time to make contact.”