'Europe needs common asylum standards'

These are the images that have been shown around the world: unbelievable scenes of spontaneous human gestures when the refugees arrived in Germany, especially at Munich's main station this week. This unprecedented solidarity with suffering people provides extraordinary evidence of the commitment of Germany's civil society when it comes to handling the refugee crisis. Normal citizens have become helpers and assumed personal responsibility for the situation - and even for government tasks.

The empathy and commitment reflect the sentiments of a civilized society and they are a remarkable way of illustrating what German Chancellor Angela Merkel meant when she recently spoke of the "universal civil values of Europe." We should be proud of this country and its wonderful people.

Welcoming culture without restrictions

There is no question about it: in the next few years and maybe even decades, the influx of refugees to Germany will pose major challenges to the nation, both economically and socially. The immigration history of the Federal Republic of Germany, however, has shown the country's adeptness at integrating people.

The Federal Republic of Germany managed to integrate millions of people from Eastern European countries who had been displaced in the Second World War, and to make a success of reunification along with the internal migration it brought with it. And let's not forget that hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s found protection and homes in Germany.

Despite Germany's economic power and these impressive achievements, questions about capacities and limits should be asked – along with questions about how the refugees from Africa and the Middle East will change the future in the medium and long term.

But more than often, the difference between legitimate concerns and racial resentment has not been clearly distinguished, and this shortcoming poses problems, as the immigration debate in this country could easily take a turn for the worse: then, the wonderful stories of a welcoming culture will no longer take center stage, but instead, irrational fears and scaremongering will come up on top. And this would ultimately play into the hands of right-wing populists.

But let it be said: our democratic state is strong enough to hold criminal refugees accountable for any crimes.

Germany is a role model

In recent weeks, German politicians have been given the chance to revive the humanitarian heritage of Europe: the refugee crisis is also a crisis of the European Union. But mere appeals to an abstract common European solidarity are futile.

In order to really help people escape from war, persecution and terrorism, uniform standards throughout Europe are required to deal with asylum seekers and those searching for employment. No EU country will be able to handle the refugee crisis successfully without common asylum laws, migration regulations or legal access to the European labor markets.

And because the problems can only be resolved on a European level, it would only be consistent and logical for Germany to urge other Europeans to live up to the "universal, civil values ​​in Europe" by promoting humane asylum laws throughout the EU.

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