“Hard but fair”: Bavaria’s Interior Minister Herrmann shows no empathy

The TV Debate

“Hard but fair”
Escape from Ukraine: of heartbreaking moments and lack of empathy

More than a month after the Russian invasion began, several million people have fled Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have come to Germany. The CDU demands that these people be registered with the authorities without exception. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) recently spoke out publicly against it. Only people from third countries or without valid documents should be registered. The parliamentary manager of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei, criticized this sharply in the newspaper “Welt”. Faeser leaves the admission and support of the refugees to chance. Appropriately, the panel discussion at “hard but fair” discussed the question “Fleeing from Putin’s bombs: How well can Germany help?”.

Guest at “hard but fair”:

Minister of the Interior in the yoga seat

“Today it’s not about Putin and arms deliveries, but about people,” host Frank Plasberg opened the talk. WDR reporter Isabel Schayani quickly made it clear that she had doubts as to whether the federal and state governments were trying with the necessary determination to help the refugees from Ukraine. She has the impression that the interior ministers work in the yoga position. Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann, couldn’t let that sit. “There can be no talk of chilling,” said the CSU politician. He doesn’t know any colleague who is doing yoga at the moment. Herrmann also did not have the impression that the other countries were asleep and spoke of an “orderly situation.”

Of course, the head of the conference of interior ministers did not miss the opportunity to emphasize how exemplary his own country is in dealing with the current challenges. 40,000 people from Ukraine have already been registered with the authorities in Bavaria. The other countries could also do it, “if we made an effort now,” says Herrmann. Isabel Schayani doesn’t see it that relaxed. In the Cologne Immigration Office, for example, there is just one device that can be used to take and read people’s fingerprints. “You have to work through it on a Saturday and then you can do it,” Herrmann replied. According to this statement, it is doubtful whether Herrmann is really familiar with the day-to-day work of German authorities.

Municipalities feel left alone by the federal government

Local politician Heike Jüngling (CDU) from the city of Königswinter in North Rhine-Westphalia appreciates the commitment of private individuals. Nevertheless, she was dissatisfied with the fact that no answers were available to the most important questions at the moment. For example, it is unclear how the accommodation of refugees works and she does not know who reimburses the costs for private accommodation. So far, 260 people have also been admitted to their community, which is a high number compared to the population of Königswinter. “The gyms are not the solution to the problems,” Jüngling clarified. Recently, however, a gym in the city had to be closed in order to be able to accommodate refugees there.

The head of social affairs from Königswinter could not resist a small dig at the Bavarian interior minister. “From a distance you can perhaps say that everything is under control,” said Jüngling. Joachim Herrmann continued to grin, as he had done throughout the show. But his grin faded when Jüngling said that without registering the refugees, it would be complicated to pay social benefits. Herrmann raised his voice and said that you can’t expect municipalities to pay out money to “any X-anyone”. Jüngling remained calm and explained that this was the case in emergency situations and that all municipalities would do it that way. Once again, it seemed as if Herrmann had no knowledge of how authorities work outside of Bavaria.

Refugees: “Every day I hope that I can go home the next day”

Oksana Ilchenko fled Kiev with her daughter and mother and is currently living with a host family in Hanover. Her husband is an officer in the Ukrainian capital. “The child shouldn’t see the terrible moments in war,” she said of the reason for her escape. At first the family stayed in Poland in a room with a total of seven people. The situation was particularly difficult for her daughter. The child cried every day. Since they were taken in by the host family in Hanover, Oksana has been able to sleep again and her daughter can finally laugh again, she said in dismay. Nevertheless, Oksana hopes every day that she can go back to her home country the next day.

Just a few days after her arrival in Germany, Oksana and her family realized that they also had to face challenges in Germany. Her mother fell ill with Corona. Her condition was bad, but without registration it was difficult to get the medical care she needed. Since the father of the hostess was a doctor, prescriptions could be obtained. Oksana already had an appointment to register – on April 27th. “By that time, I had actually wanted to be home for a long time,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

The studio guests, especially Isabel Schayani, who Oksana met in Poland a few weeks earlier, were visibly touched. Only Joachim Herrmann had the feeling that he had to go one step further and said that he knew a refugee woman who, after a few days in Germany, had to hear that her husband had died in the war. This dispassionate comment was symbolic of the Bavarian Minister of the Interior’s entire appearance on the talk show.

yks