REFUGEES WELCOME
19:32:00I am tired. Tired of hateful Facebook comments, of articles and TV shows discussing "Threats to our culture" or the inability of a country as rich as Germany to take care of the people who need it so desperately. I am tired about discussions about something that should be obvious: help for those in need from those who have more than enough to give. I am tired of the idiotic idea that people come to Europe in tiny boats facing the huge chance of death for a couple of Euros.
I am furious. Furious about people using "fear" to mask their hatred. Of age-old stereotypes and people that think "They will steal our jobs" is still an argument you can use in 2015. I am so, so mad at everyone who wonders if we should leave Muslims into our great christian countries, when they have not been to church except for christmas in the last 20 years and probably have no idea why we get a day off on Whitsunday. I want to punch people when I hear them wonder why refugees have smartphones, when it´s god damn obvious that these people come to us from other countries, not the 18th century.
I am sad. I honestly could cry every time I open up the pages of a newspaper or go online to check the news. I am so sad for the children, women and men who die every day en route to a better future. The people that are fleeing from things so horrible that we cannot even imagine. The families that are ripped apart and that may never see each other again. For the thousands of unaccompanied minors that are faced with the extremely harsh reality of the European bureaucracy without someone by their side to guide them.
There is an insane amount of hate going around Europe at the moment, scarily similar to the kind of hate that was so present 80 years ago: The hatred of people that are different. The greed to hold on to whatever we have when we could easily give without loosing. The idea that we are somewhat better and that if we let people into our communities they will fail. I can´t really put into words how sick I feel knowing that this kind of argumentation is still alive and well, but maybe we were just happy with ignoring racism and islamophobia for way too long.
I for me have decided that I can not see all this hate, all this suffering with my hands quietly folded. And I know that many others feel the same. That while there is so much hate currently going around, there are people who speak up against it. I know that the current refugee crisis seems like a problem too big to grasp, but I am a fond believer in the theory that if many work together the biggest problems can be solved. I am majorly thankful that my university has started to set up a network for volunteers here in Malmö that tells you how to involve locally. I am happy that the German national television is publishing a map with great ideas across Germany to help refugees. I am happy that people welcome refugees at stations and that they stand up for those, who all came here despite the incredible obstacles with the dream of something that I at least hope we can all agree on is good: the hope for human rights. For democracy. For peace at last.
And I wish that all of us get active in getting them closer to these goals. I think in times like these, there is nothing more needed than love as cheesy as that may sound. Actually going and welcoming the refugees, showing them that we want them here, that we want them to become parts of our societies is so incredibly important. Listening to their stories and maybe crying with them is such a huge gesture.
I know so many people who feel the same way as I do about this so called "Refugee crisis": mad and sad and a little helpless and I know that the first step to help is often the hardest. But I also believe that having a welcoming human after experiences so horrible that you cannot imagine and a journey so difficult most of us would never dare can be very soothing.
So please sign up to volunteer for example with the Red Cross in welcoming refugees. If you have a spare room in your house please offer it. If you have time to give please drive to one of the refugee camps and actually talk to people. And if you can not manage all of these tasks for whatever reason, please, please, please at least stand up against those people spreading more and more hatred. Help raise awareness and kindness in your friends, speak up when you hear racist comments. Help spreading love when spreading hate may be so much easier.
you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
3 Kommentare
Großartig, mein Herzkind:-*
AntwortenLöschenEin wirklich super toller geschriebener Text - einfach nur klasse.
AntwortenLöschenGanz liebe Grüße Lisa
http://hellobeautifulstyle.blogspot.de/
Wunderbare Worte! Danke! Du sprichst mir aus dem Herzen!
AntwortenLöschenThanks so much for your lovely comments, constructive criticism and suggestions. I will try to answer all of you!