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Refugees Across Europe Fear Repercussions From Paris Attacks
Refugees Across Europe Fear Repercussions From Paris Attacks
(about 9 hours later)
BERLIN — Asylum papers in hand, Raz Mohammad Aryubi recalled his arrival in Austria from his native Afghanistan in spring 2014, and how, at 21, he is now studying for an M.B.A. at the University of Vienna. But his feeling of security in the country he wishes to make his home evaporated, he said, when he saw what had happened in Paris.
BERLIN — Asylum papers in hand, Raz Mohammad Aryubi recalled his arrival in Austria from his native Afghanistan in spring 2014, and how, at 21, he is now studying for an M.B.A. at the University of Vienna. But his feeling of security in the country he wishes to make his home evaporated, he said, when he saw what happened in Paris.
“When I heard about Paris, I was crying,” Mr. Aryubi said. “Why? This was happening in Afghanistan.”
“When I heard about Paris, I was crying,” Mr. Aryubi said. “Why? This was happening in Afghanistan.”
He had not expected to have this worry about extremist violence once he had reached the European Union, he said. “I want to be safe,” he said, “but if this happens here, where do I go? Right now, I think of my future and I’m scared.”
He had not expected to have this worry about extremist violence once he reached the European Union, he said. “I want to be safe,” he said, “but if this happens here, where do I go? Right now, I think of my future and I’m scared.”
Since the attacks on Friday, and as Europeans were reminded of the fragility of their security, the hundreds of thousands of people who arrived on the Continent recently have also confronted a changed world.
Since the attacks last Friday, and as Europeans were reminded of the fragility of their security, the hundreds of thousands of people who arrived on the Continent recently have also confronted a changed world.
After many fled their homeland to escape war and the terrors of Islamist extremism, they now find that their long trek into the heart of Europe may be no guarantee of their safety. At the same time, the migrants, most of them Muslim, are likely to be viewed with greater suspicion, making it more difficult to settle into the communities they had hoped to join.
Even before the bombs and mass shootings in Paris, the welcome extended to asylum seekers was wearing thin.
The discovery that one of the suicide bombers was carrying a Syrian passport, and had passed through border controls in Greece and traveled along the migrant trail, has ramped up worries about weak security mechanisms and checks along the way.
And the role in the attacks of a man who used a Syrian passport — even though he was probably not the true owner of the document — reinforced Europe’s fears that extremists would mix in with the vast human flow.
The passport was probably stolen, and the identity on the passport page — Ahmad al-Mohammad, 25, of Idlib, Syria — may be that of a dead Syrian soldier, a French official said.
Although that flow has dwindled, it is still sizable. In November, about 4,000 a day were landing on Greek islands from Turkey; the average in October was 10,000.
But even before the attacks, the welcome extended to asylum seekers was wearing thin.
Across Europe, governments, volunteers and aid workers still care for migrants on the move and for asylum seekers who have recently arrived.
As governments stretched to accommodate the new arrivals, calls for shutting borders and turning migrants away accelerated. Nationalist and populist parties are on the rise, and new governments are being swept into office on the power of anti-immigrant talk.
Formerly tolerant nations like Sweden are closing borders, and Slovenia, a crucial point in the Balkans-to-Northern Europe migration trail, is joining its neighbors in adding a barbed-wire fence.
Even Germany, which has been among the most welcoming destinations for the migrants, is seeing a growing backlash against the new arrivals, as well as a continuing trend of violence and arson attacks directed at migrants’ homes.
The newcomers are dependent on good will and often ignorant of the language and customs of their new homes. They are as apprehensive about their new surroundings as many Europeans are fearful and suspicious of strangers. The Paris attacks have only enhanced the migrants’ sense of vulnerability.
“I told a refugee what had happened in Paris,” said Mr. Aryubi, who volunteers with the Austrian branch of the Roman Catholic charity Caritas at the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna, where tens of thousands of refugees have arrived, most en route to Germany. “The refugee said, ‘What happens if this happens again? What can we do?’ ”
Across Europe, governments, volunteers and aid workers still care for migrants on the move and for asylum seekers who have recently arrived. And leaders have expressed the need to differentiate between the Islamist extremists who carried out the attacks, and the Muslims from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries who chose Europe often expressly because they sought to flee the militants.
President François Hollande of France on Wednesday repeated his commitment to take in 30,000 migrants from Syria and Iraq, though he said asylum seekers would be checked to make sure that none posed a threat.
President François Hollande of France on Wednesday repeated his commitment to take in 30,000 migrants from Syria and Iraq, though he said asylum seekers would be checked to make sure that none posed a threat.
In Paris after the assaults, a group of Afghans and others sleeping in parks and other spaces near the restaurants that were attacked expressed no fear of reprisals or mistreatment.
In Paris after the assaults, a group of Afghans and others sleeping in parks and other spaces near the restaurants that were attacked expressed no fear of reprisals or mistreatment.
“I have been in Paris for a month, and I am very happy,” said Azim Mghakhel, a young Afghan. “They give us what we need — bedding, food, showers. And you know, even the buildings are beautiful here!”
“I have been in Paris for a month, and I am very happy,” said Azim Mghakhel, a young Afghan. “They give us what we need — bedding, food, showers. And you know, even the buildings are beautiful here!”
But in Slovenia, a country of two million that has seen more than 225,000 refugees pass through it since Oct. 17, aid workers worry that the attacks in Paris will polarize a population unused to absorbing or even seeing migrants.
But in Slovenia, a country of two million that has seen more than 225,000 refugees pass through it since Oct. 17, aid workers worry that the attacks in Paris will polarize a population unused to absorbing or even seeing migrants.
“We fear that we will have to justify even more forcefully in public that helping refugees and migrants is our duty as human beings,” said Tereza Novak, director of Slovenska Filantropija, a humanitarian organization that has worked with migrants for two decades. “It’s unfortunate that such violence gives wings to those who spread fear and loathing of refugees.”
Despite the wary mood and harsher language, there do not appear to be major changes to border procedures since last Friday.
The role in the attacks of the man who used the Syrian passport — even though he was probably not the true owner of the document — reinforced Europe’s fears that extremists would mix in with the vast human flow.
That flow has dwindled, but it is still sizable. In November, about 4,000 a day were landing on Greek islands from Turkey; the average in October was 10,000.
“There is no major evidence that the crisis is disappearing with the change of season,” said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency in Geneva.
Despite the wary mood and harsher rhetoric, there do not appear to be major changes to border procedures since Friday (though Germany this week started a media, poster and online campaign to discourage Afghans from setting out for Europe).
Before Friday, the police were often present at national borders, but refugees reported few checks.
In Berlin, Dr. Allaa Eddin Ghadri, a 56-year-old dentist, said he was part of a group of 10 who had arrived four days earlier after fleeing their country’s civil war. Security along the route through Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Austria was minimal, he said.
“They let us through and we had no problems,” he said. “Only Austria took fingerprints.”
Asked about the Paris attacks, Dr. Ghadri denounced the “crime.” “We run from these criminals in Syria, so how can we accept this?” he said.
In the Serbian capital, Belgrade, Hozan Sabri, 30, a history teacher from Qamishli, Syria, expressed confidence that European authorities would distinguish potential terrorists from those fleeing wars and persecution.
In the Serbian capital, Belgrade, Hozan Sabri, 30, a history teacher from Qamishli, Syria, expressed confidence that European authorities would distinguish potential terrorists from those fleeing wars and persecution.
He said he had spent three years in a Syrian jail for refusing to shoot unarmed protesters during his obligatory military service with the government army.
He said he had spent three years in a Syrian jail for refusing to shoot unarmed protesters during his obligatory military service. “When they hear my story,” he said of German authorities, “they will support me.”
“When they hear my story,” he said of German authorities, “they will support me.”
That is not as certain as it was back in September, when Germans and Austrians flocked to railroad stations with flowers, food, drink and applause for the new arrivals.
That is not as certain as it was back in September, when Germans and Austrians flocked to railroad stations with flowers, food, drink and applause for the new arrivals.
Even in Germany, whose leaders expect well over 800,000 asylum applications this year, skepticism and hostility abound. There have been 450 attacks on asylum shelters in the country in 2015, and well over 200 antimigrant demonstrations, according to the nongovernmental group Amadeu Antonio Foundation in Berlin.
In Germany early Sunday, an arson fire on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom destroyed the roof of a two-story office building that had been converted to house 15 refugees. The same property had already been set on fire in October.
Early Sunday, firefighters on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom battled a blaze that destroyed the roof of a two-story office building that had been converted to house 15 refugees, who were to move in on Thursday. Nicole Buchsing, a police spokeswoman, said the blaze was arson. The same property had already been set on fire in October.
The nationalist Alternative for Germany party, which has been unable to attract more than 5 percent of votes in elections, the threshold for representation in state or federal legislatures, has steadily increased its hold across the country.
The nationalist Alternative for Germany party, which has been unable to attract more than 5 percent of votes in elections, the threshold for representation in state or federal legislatures, has steadily increased its hold across the country.
Dresden, in eastern Germany, is still the backdrop every Monday for anti-immigrant, anti-Islam protests by the right-wing movement Pegida.
“I told a refugee what had happened in Paris,” said Mr. Aryubi, who volunteers with the Austrian branch of the Roman Catholic charity Caritas at the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna, where tens of thousands of refugees have arrived, most en route to Germany. “The refugee said, ‘What happens if this happens again? What can we do?’ ”
In Austria, the right-wing Freedom Party has consistently drawn support of 30 percent or more in national opinion polls, although it was unsuccessful last month in unseating the Social Democrats in city elections in Vienna.
Bader Zneika, a 31-year-old Syrian, has been living in Austria since February 2014, and he has been granted asylum. But while he saves up for tickets to Vienna’s opera, he fears for Syrians just arriving.
“What about the new Syrians, who look like refugees?” he said. “I don’t know how society here will accept them.”
“All of us understand that extremism has no place, anywhere,” he said. “Terror is terror. I don’t want to sit in the opera house and be afraid.”
