앙겔라 메르켈 독일 총리가 베를린의 난민센터 를 직접 방문, 난민들과 어울려 셀카를 찍으며 독일의 난민 포용 정책을 과시했다.
AFP통신 등 외신에 따르면 메르켈 총리는 10일(현지시간) 연방 이민난민청의 베를린지부를 방문해 난민들을 직접 만났다.
난민들은 메르켈 총리의 방문에 환호하면서 입국을 허락해준 데 대한 고마움을 표했다.
메르켈 총리는 난민들의 손을 잡고 격려하는 것은 물론 얼굴을 맞대고 환한 표 정으로 함께 셀카를 찍었다.
시리아 난민 라마단 살라(35)는 "메르켈 총리가 우리를 보러 오다니 정말 행복 하다"면서 "우리에겐 엄마 같은 분이다. 난민을 많이 도와줬다"고 말했다.
그는 메르켈 총리와 셀카도 찍었다면서 "같이 사진을 찍다니 소원이 이뤄졌다" 고 기뻐했다.
AFP은 메르켈 총리가 난민들로부터 영웅과 같은 환대를 받았다고 전했다.
메르켈 총리는 이날 이주민 어린이들이 다니는 학교도 방문해 난민 포용에 대해 자신감을 드러냈다.
그는 "매일 수천 명의 난민이 베를린에 온다면 중대한 도전이지만 이에 대응할 열정과 동기도 상당하다고 느낀다"면서 "난민들에게 좋은 미래를 주고 싶다"고 말했 다.
한편 메르켈 총리는 페이스북이 이용자들의 외국인차별적 발언에 적극적으로 대 응해야 한다고 촉구했다.
그는 11일 현지 언론 라인 포스트와의 인터뷰에서 "사람들이 실명으로 소셜네트 워크서비스를 선동한다면 국가도 나서야 하지만 페이스북도 뭔가를 해야 한다"고 말 했다.
메르켈 총리는 페이스북이 이미 필요한 대응법을 갖추고 있지만 실행이 제대로 되지 않고 있다고 지적했다.
앞서 하이코 마스 독일 법무장관은 페이스북이 인종차별적이거나 증오가 담긴 게시물에 제대로 대응하지 못하고 있다고 비판했다.
페이스북은 마스 장관의 우려를 심각하게 받아들인다면서 법무부와 이를 논의할 의향이 있다고 밝혔다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
‘Mama Merkel’ cheered by Syrians at refugee centre
Chancellor Angela Merkel won a hero’s welcome as she visited a Berlin migrant centre on Thursday, with Syrians cheering and taking selfies as Germany threw open its doors to thousands of refugees.
“We are so happy Mrs Merkel came to see us today,” said a joyful Ramadan Salah, a 35-year-old Syrian Kurdish refugee the migrant refugee centre in western Berlin.
“She is like a mother to us, she has helped many refugees,” he said.
“It’s a dream come true for me to take my picture with Mrs Merkel.”
As thousands continue to flee bloodshed in Syria, Iraq and beyond, Germany is expected to welcome 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, four times the number in 2014 and far more than any other European country.
As Europe’s largest economy flung open its doors, some 20,000 refugees were cheered last weekend as they arrived on trains from Hungary via Austria before being transferred to registration centres across the country.
News that Germany had suspended the EU’s so-called Dublin rules for Syrians spread quickly amongst the community. The rules require refugees to return to the first EU country they entered in order to stake an asylum claim.
So far this year, 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany, including 37,000 in the first eight days of this month, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told parliament on Thursday.
As she visited a school for children from migrant backgrounds, Merkel expressed confidence that Germany could handle the historic influx.
“If every day thousands of refugees are coming to Berlin, then that’s a huge challenge,” she said.
“But I have the impression there is an incredible motivation, that there is a lot of enthusiasm to cope with this incredible challenge,” she said of the refugees.
“We want to give them a good future.”
With thousands arriving every day, refugees are being housed in old schools, office blocks and even army barracks, with the army saying it was putting up 14,500 refugees in 41 locations.
Another 5,000 are staying on a large former US military base in Giessen in the central state of Hesse, with over a thousand of them staying in large tents, each of which houses 70 to 80 people.
At the camp, hoards of children were playing football and riding bicycles while others were inline skating as adults sat in groups on the lawn in the late-summer sunshine, as laundry dried on nearby fences.
“School is good, Germany is very good,” said one man, aged about 40.
“We are happy here, please don’t send us back,” said a 30-year-old Afghan man who also did not give his name.
With autumn coming and temperatures dropping fast, the biggest challenge was “to get people out of tents,” said state social affairs minister Stefan Gruettner, holding up a child’s picture of a heart coloured in the black, red and gold of the German flag.
“It sent a shiver down my spine,” he said. (AFP)
