Migrants in Germany report hostility amid AfD rise — Dawn
In Rostock on Germany's Baltic coast, migrants say hostility toward foreigners has intensified amid growing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and migration's return to the center of political debate. As Dawn reports, citing Reuters, some people of migrant origin interviewed described anti-immigrant insults and calls for them to leave the country.
A family from Syria
More than 10 years ago, Shahd Najib and her husband Mahmoud Khmuech fled Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, escaping Islamic State militants during the civil war. In Germany, Khmuech works in a hair salon, while Najib serves food in local schools. The couple are raising two children.
Khmuech said the family is grateful to Germans for shelter, peace and security, and tries to express that gratitude through its work. They are among more than 900,000 Syrians living in Germany, most of whom arrived in the country as asylum seekers during the war in Syria.
According to Najib, after picking up her children from school and entering a grocery store, an elderly man in a wheelchair shouted at her that she did not belong in Germany. She said she felt pain in Rostock that she had not known before, despite the efforts she had made to build a life in the country.
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Fears ahead of the election
In the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the family lives, opinion polls indicate that AfD could become the largest party in Sunday's election. The state is located in the territory of the former communist East Germany.
Most people of migrant origin interviewed by Reuters said they had encountered anti-immigrant behavior more frequently in recent years, ranging from quiet insults to demands that they return to their countries of origin. One woman said a neighbor poured foul-smelling water on her from a balcony.
Several interviewees working in healthcare, tourism, education and catering said they could leave Rostock or Schwerin if the social atmosphere continues to deteriorate.
