PETRA GÜMPLOVÁ - The tragedy of Cologne and its aftermath – the depletion of civility
This is a
vicious circle of harassment, animosity, and aggressive and uncivilized
behavior that seriously undermines the resource which is crucial for successful
integration.
After the reports
about the string of sexual assaults during New Year’s Eve celebrations in
Cologne, media outlets across Europe followed with the news about refugee and
migrant sex crimes – groping at swimming pools, verbal abuse and throwing of
stones on the streets, or harassment at a music festival. Responding to these
events, local authorities issued warnings to women to avoid certain places,
towns barred migrants from entering swimming pools, thousands of police
personnel were readied to patrol carnival marches, and pink security zones for
women were proposed.
This reaction is deeply
frustrating. Groups of men sexually assaulting women in public spaces is a new
form of violence against women which needs to be condemned and punished. But
this wave of reporting on Cologne has increased an already existing
anti-immigrant fervor and has given fresh impetus for further violent
xenophobic attacks, as another stereotypical image of a migrant, this time as a
rapist, is settling in our imagination and exacerbating our fears.
Thus, the vulnerable,
and yet single most important resource for a successful integration of a
diverse society is now being eroded, perhaps beyond the point of return. This
resource can be called civility, characterized as respectful,
polite, and friendly behavior toward strangers, regardless of whether they are
one’s own compatriots or foreigners.
Resources and
challenges of integration: Last
year, over one million refugees came to Germany and the total number of people
resettled could be much higher if migrants are joined by their family members
over future months or years. This is a number larger than the total number of refugees that the
US – with a population of 320 million to Germany’s 80 million – has
accepted in the last 10 years. These people will add up to a fifth of the
population with migrant origin who, according to official
numbers, already live there.
Yet in many ways,
Germany seems to be in a unique position to deliver on its promise of
integration. It has a strong economy with a record budget surplus and a robust
labor market with low unemployment. It has an extensive and generous welfare
state. It has a dense and decentralized structure of well-funded and
resourceful local public and non-profit organizations providing services on
behalf of widely shared ideals of solidarity, equality of opportunity and
social justice.
On top of that, there
is an impressive, comparatively lower tolerance to open public displays of
racism and xenophobia and the lack of the feeling of national or cultural
superiority. According to latest
polls, the support for giving asylum to those fleeing war zones still
remains high, at 94%.
In the late summer of
last year, masses of ordinary people greeted arriving migrants and refugees at
the train stations. But the Willkomenskultur has evaporated
after the Cologne attacks. Germans now support more substantial limits on
immigration – caps on numbers of incoming refugees, limits on welfare benefits,
the return of economic migrants, the control of borders.
The latest
demonstration of Pegida, an anti-Islamic organization, drew thousands of
supporters to Dresden. Frauke Petry, the leader of Germany’s main rightwing
anti-immigrant party, Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD), said recently that
migrants crossing illegally from Austria to Germany should be stopped with
firearms, if necessary. Sahra Wagenknech, the co-leader of the left party Die
Linke proclaimed that those who abuse hospitality, lose the right to it.
What is more, since
mid-2015 Germany has registered a sharp increase in vandalizing attacks on
refugee facilities and asylum seekers’ accommodations. The journal
Zeit reports that there have been over 220 of such attacks in 2015
alone. As many incidents are not reported, the figure could be even higher. ..
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