After the Bavarian Refugee Council, the SPD is also demanding the resignation of the Free State’s integration commissioner because of inappropriate statements. Gudrun Brendel-Fischer (CSU) wrote in a press release that Ukrainian refugees did not have to be explained how a washing machine works, or that cooking on the floor of the room is not allowed. According to the politician from the district of Bayreuth, more important is quick and coordinated access to language courses.
Refugee Council speaks of “racist thinking”
The refugee council accuses Brendel-Fischer of promoting racist thinking with the first part of this statement. Some, European, refugees are civilized, others are not, according to the criticism of the refugee council. The SPD also criticizes the integration officer Brendel-Fischer. With her statements, she is fueling “racist clichés and prejudices,” said SPD Secretary General Arif Taşdele, who is his party’s integration officer.
SPD calls for non-partisan integration officers
Like the refugee council, the SPD man recommends that the CSU state parliamentarians make their office available to the state government as integration commissioner. The state government should “as quickly as possible look around for a new person to fill the office,” the statement said. SPD General Secretary Taşdelen reiterated his call for an independent integration commissioner who is not subject to faction or party pressure. Annual reporting in the state parliament should also improve parliamentary control.
Integration commissioners did not want to discredit refugees
Brendel-Fischer reacted to the allegations and made it clear in a statement: “It was not my intention to discredit other refugees.” Rather, she alluded to the fact that Ukrainian refugees had been referred to initial orientation courses in the past few days or weeks, the content of which was not tailored to their needs. As a result, time and energy are wasted and the motivation to learn and achieve would dwindle, according to Brendel-Fischer.
Brendel-Fischer refers to her commitment to refugees
The CSU politician from Heinersreuth emphasized that within the framework of the legal possibilities and in individual cases also beyond that, she campaigns for the interests of all refugees and people with a migration background in Bavaria – regardless of their country of origin. According to Brendel-Fischer, one should judge what she has written and not what others have associated with it.
The Bavarian Refugee Council is a non-governmental human rights organization based in Munich. Its members campaign for the rights of refugees and migrants.
Criticism also from the Turkish community
The chairman of the Turkish community in the metropolitan region of Nuremberg, Bülent Bayraktar, does not consider Gudrun Brendel-Fischer’s clarification to be sufficient. He writes in a media release: “An apology would be the least.”