MUNICH, Germany.
Elisabeth Münzebrock, from Munich, Germany, shares her impressions on the mass exodus of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe, fleeing the horror of war in Syria and the expansion of so-called Islamic State. It is the largest migration flow since World War II. Only between January 1 and September 1, 2015 more than 350,000 people have reached European shores. They are traveling in subhuman conditions.
Welcome in Munich
Make no mistake! ... The exciting images of "welcome" at Munich Central Station are gone and now citizens, the Land of Bavaria, and the Government of the Federal Republic wonder: for how long will thousands of refugees reach daily the "promised land," as they consider Germany?
At this time, for the last week, those of us living in the Bavarian capital do not cease to be amazed at seeing the joy on the faces of children who arrive exhausted, starving and thirsty, in the trains that arrive relentlessly at the station. Without a doubt, these expressive eyes that start showing a shy smile are recorded deep in our hearts as they receive the teddy bears that we tend to them.
Also other inhumane and cruel images on the outskirts of Budapest where they beat refugees and throw them into the super-crowded trains without mercy and insensitive to so much human tragedy also get recorded.
We are concerned about this "(in) human face of this Europe which, as it is said, it owes its existence to values such as "truth, beauty, and goodness,” to empathy, as its name suggests, let alone Christian values. Consistently the current Pope asks, begs, and proclaims a "Year of mercy."
In the meantime outside the large West European cities these almost uncontrollable masses accumulate because the “Vishegrad group" (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) flatly refuses to welcome with the minimum human standards those arriving exhausted and desperate after days and weeks crawling towards "Germany."
Can we? Can we welcome so many people day after day?
Looking realistically at the geopolitical situation of our Europe, we must note that there will be no place, no possibility of offering a free standard of living like the one we have lived for decades...
And there are voices that remind us of the dangers of this "walk of peoples" from Iraq, Libya, and Syria to our continent.
In my country (Germany) there is an increasing fear that among the refugees terrorists and members of the IS may also come into the country. However, experts argue against this fear, stating that the real danger is in those who have left Germany and other European countries to join the Jihad in Syria and Iraq. We speak of thousands with European identity documents that can infiltrate quietly. Only in Germany, of these "dangerous" people (many are not registered) 730 have returned. In the case of Spain, "blank" passports have been stolen by IS. The news that fighters disguised as refugees have ben sent is also spreading.
As I write these impressions the news on Radio and TV are repeatedly reporting that Munich has reached the limit of its capacity to host refugees who have arrived by the thousands for ten days. There is no availability of buses or trains to transport these masses to other parts of the Federal Republic. The chaos will be completed next week because thousands of others want to get to Oktoberfest, the great popular festival known internationally ... Gosh!.
Meanwhile the two major Churches (Catholic and Protestant) are working in unison calling their faithful to be generous and with impressive gestures. This really is "lived Ecumenism"!
Yes we can, but what can we do?
People like you and me ... the absolute majorities of our countries must not be afraid that this "Muslim invasion" may come to subdue this Europe which gradually has moved away from its Christian roots. However we find that we have in the depth of the soul values such as solidarity, the capacity to welcome, the spontaneity of the one who attends with prejudice or fear to these "agora" of mercy, where there is no need of scholarly speeches on the Christian essence, but where the language of the heart is what is needed. And all of us can learn this language: give of our time to teach the language of the country, give them some of our time to accompany them to immigration offices, provide supplies for immediate needs: diapers for babies, fruit, water, sandwiches, toiletries, clothes, not forgetting candy and toys for the smaller ones and remembering the words of Jesus: "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.”
©Elisabeth Münzebrock, Munich