Immigration | Firefighters were ambushed in Berlin, attacked and now the first names of those arrested are being demanded

Berlin

“Completely a new way” to attack the authorities and rescue personnel, characterized the mayor of Berlin’s Neukölln district Martin Hikel New Year’s Eve events.

The aftermath of the surprising riots and the related immigration debate are making heavy rounds in Germany.

According to the Berlin fire department, the firefighters who came to put out the fires that started from the rockets and the barricades lit on the street on New Year’s Eve were ambushed, according to their story, so that they could be attacked.

“No one could have expected such ruthlessness,” said a firefighter who himself was ambushed Baris Coban In an interview with Welt magazine.

According to Coban, firefighters in Berlin’s Neukölln and Kreuzberg have prepared for rockets being fired at fire trucks on New Year’s, but ambushes after leaving the vehicle were new.

According to Coban, attacking the firefighters who came out of the fire engines with stones, bottles, rockets and signal pistols was also unexpected. The rioters managed to prevent the extinguishing work “massively”, he said.

in Berlin 41 police officers and 15 firefighters were injured on New Year’s Eve. Injuries were caused by rockets fired at close range, even a rocket that got inside a helmet, and signal pistols.

Signaling pistols use a light or bang charge, the sound of which can be as loud as that of a rifle.

In Berlin, violent New Year’s Eve fireworks are also common in the streets and in crowds. The last couple of years have been quieter because fireworks were not sold due to bans related to the pandemic.

This year, the violence of the events surprised the police and rescue services.

Berlin police arrested 145 people involved in violence and disorder. Those arrested are only a small part of those who participated in the events.

A few days later, the police exceptionally also announced the nationalities of those arrested. Only less than a third, or 45, of them have German citizenship. Of those arrested, 27 were Afghans and 21 were Syrians. In total, they represented 18 nationalities.

Two thirds of those arrested were under 25 years old.

Nationalities after the announcement, a hot debate about immigration flared up in Germany. Why has the integration of immigrants failed?

Germany’s Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday that there are problems with “certain young men from immigrant backgrounds” in Germany’s big cities. According to him, they despise the state, use violence, and are no longer targeted by education or integration programs.

of the mayor of Berlin Franziska Giffey according to that, many of the perpetrators are already known to the police from the “neighborhood”. Incidents are investigated with the help of, among other things, abundant video materials.

According to Giffey it is about young men who “do not feel that they belong to society, and do not feel the obligation to respect” the police and rescue personnel “to the extent that would be normal”.

The conservative party CDU demands that the first names of the German citizens arrested in Berlin on New Year’s Day be made public. The requirement stems from the assumption that they also have an immigrant background despite their German passport.

The demand has also been seen as inciting racism, just like Faeser’s exits.

Professor of Urban Sociology at the Humboldt University of Berlin Talja Blokland evaluate of the Berliner Zeitung in the interview, that a large part of those arrested have come to Germany in the last seven years.

During the migration crisis of 2014–2015, many minors also came to the country without parents.

“In Neukölln and Kreuzberg, the division between Germans and foreigners is very clear, especially in schools and kindergartens,” he says.

They are also areas where the number of child psychologists and therapists is lower than in affluent areas, and child and youth support services are overburdened.

“The question is not why people with an immigrant background do not manage to become part of society. The question is: why is our society so closed,” says Blokland.

A sociologist of Arab background living in Neukölln Mohammed Chahrour does voluntary work against racist prejudices and stigmatization.

“Kein General-Verdacht”, founded by Chahrour and his friends, is a movement that communicates to people of immigrant background that they should not be generally suspicious of anything.

According to Chahrour, 7–8 years ago, police raids on stores owned by people with an immigrant background and stopping people with an immigrant background on the street became more common in Neukölln. In his opinion, increasing the presence of police officers will not solve the problems now.

“These are likely young people without prospects, who may have had to be constantly stopped by the police on the street since they were little. That’s why they don’t trust the police, but maybe they saw an opportunity to pay back.”

“Of course, that doesn’t justify what they’ve done.”

Next week A summit against youth violence will be held in Berlin at the initiative of Mayor Giffey. In Neukölln, which has more than 327,000 inhabitants, working as a district councilor for social affairs Falko Liecke consider it just a trick.

Giffey represents the Social Democrats and Liecke the conservative party CDU. The speeches of all politicians now have the fire brought by the approaching elections.

Re-elections will be held in Berlin on February 12, because in the 2021 elections there were problems at too many polling stations due to, among other things, missing ballots.

Liecke agrees with Chahrour that increasing the police presence will not solve the problem. Social work and schools in the region, on the other hand, need more resources.

According to him, there are large families with immigrant backgrounds in Neukölln, whose children practically live on the street. They don’t get to go to school because they don’t know enough German when they start school.

“We have a lot of young people who have no experience of success at school. Then they post videos on social media where acts of violence gain fame and glory,” says Liecke.

It is the only way they feel they are successful.

According to Liecke, solutions should start already in early childhood. He advocates compulsory day care for children as young as two years old in areas of Berlin where there are many social challenges.