Reem: I came here with my whole family
and my father used to work as a welder
and now, here in Germany,
because we don't have
a confirmation of residence yet
he can't work and yesterday
many people at home asked:
"Why is it like this,
foreigners not getting a job as fast
as Germans?"
I was gone for two minutes and
thought, myself: "Why is it like this?"
I didn't find an answer to this question.
Merkel: So you don't have
a confirmation of residence?
Reem: We had a very hard time lately,
since we were almost deported
and things were not going well at school.
The teachers and students noticed it,
therefore- Merkel: You were supposed to
go back to Lebanon?
Reem: Exactly. And I was really unwell-
Merkel: What happened now?
Reem: Now we got a temporary approval.
We were in Berlin at the embassy,
got our Lebanese passports
and now we are waiting for an answer
at the foreigners' registration office.
Honestly, I want to see my family, again.
All of this is really intense.
I have not seen my family for four years.
My aunt, grandma, grandpa...
It's one of the things that really
bear me down,
that I really want.
Merkel: Regarding the asylum bid,
we have to ask ourselves:
"Is there a reason for the request?"
One thing we want to change is,
as we discussed with the federal states,
the following:
When somebody already lives here
for four years, it is very hard to say:
"Well, now you learned German, beautifully,
and are well-integrated,
but we notice after these four years,
that your asylum plea is not rightful."
On the other hand, it is like this:
Did you come directly from Lebanon
or are you originally from Syria?
Reem: Lebanon.
Merkel: Lebanon is not considered
a country that is directly involved
in a civil war.
Reem: Exactly.
Merkel: Meaning,
there are living very many people.
Palestinian are living in refugee hostels.
They live under bad circumstances,
we know that.
On the other hand,
there are people who are in need,
even more.
They flee the civil war.
We have to favour their asylum requests.
Nevertheless, it is not good,
if the decision takes so long.
We have to change this
and we also discussed it with the states.
We will consider how to deal with those,
who are living here since many years
in an intermediate state.
We now want a faster procedure,
it might benefit you, too.
We will say "yes" or "no".
However, and I have got to say this,
we will not take in all the people
living in refugee hostels in Lebanon
for 25 years.
The reason is, that there are many
coming directly from a war zone, still.
Reem: Understandable.
There is one question on my mind:
I am here, now and I live.
Yet my future is uncertain,
so long as I don't really know,
that I can stay here.
Merkel: Well, of course.
Reem: Can I -
Merkel: Therefore,
there has to be a decision, now.
Reem: Exactly.
Merkel: We asked ourselves
"What should be changed?"
and what we plan to do is
to change the system
so that someone like you does not
live here for four years
before a decison is made.
Reem: Because I have goals just like -
Merkel: Just like everybody else,
of course.
Reem: Exactly. I want to go to uni,
that's a dream of mine
and a goal I want to achieve, badly.
It's really unpleasant
to watch others enjoy life,
while not being able to participate.
Merkel: I understand it.
However, politics can be hard.
Now I met you,
you are an incredibly likeable person.
But you also know that there are
thousands of people left
in Lebanons refugee hostels.
If we say: "You all can come here"
and "everybody from Africa can come"
and "All can come",
we can't manage that.
We are in this conflict
and the only answer is
not to take so long to decide things.
It is a fact,
that some will have to be sent back, though.
host: Would be nice to take Reems' face
with You, wouldn't it?
Each time You discuss this speedup,
You could remember the friendly face.
It might encourage You,
Federal Chancellor.
Merkel: Encourage to do what? Be faster?
host: To actively work on it.
Merkel: We are doing that.
We are determined
that the situation is not acceptable
We have so many familys
with children going to school
and something must change.
host: Could You define a time frame?
What does determined mean?
Merkel: I think we might, in one year -
You did a great job!
host: Federal Chancellor, I don't think
this is about doing a great job.
This is a very burdening situation.
Merkel: I know,
that it is a burdening situation.
And yet again I want to caress her,
because we don't want
to get you in such situations.
Because you had a rough ride,
but you did a great job
at explaining to many, many others,
in what situation one can be.
host: We wanted to give you this wish
to take along.
Merkel: We also spoke about it,
which is important.
Sadly, she is not the only one
in such a situation.
Also, we spoke about it in carbinet,
as we met as a government, today.
By now there are 6.000 or even 7000
underaged people,
who are seeking asylum, on their own
with Germany as a whole
and the different federal states
taking care.
We do it, we want it.
Even so, this makes us aware
that at other places in the world
it is not always as nice as here.
There are so many people
living under horrible circumstances.
Part of this is the conflict between
Israel and Palestine and the Arabic states
waiting for resolving, still.
You and many others suffer as a result.
For years, decades,
families and superfamilies
live in refugee hostels, there.
At the moment millions of people from
Syria live in Jordan, Lebanon,
as you know.
We want your own countrys
to become a good home, again.
We help to achieve this, too.
We can not welcome everyone to Germany,
our political task also is to create
good circumstances in other countrys,
again.
Germany helps to do that, too.