WEBVTT

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Reem: I came here with my whole family

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and my father used to work as a welder

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and now, here in Germany,

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because we don't have

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a confirmation of residence yet

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he can't work and yesterday

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many people at home asked:

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"Why is it like this,

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foreigners not getting a job as fast

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as Germans?"

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I was gone for two minutes and

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thought, myself: "Why is it like this?"

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I didn't find an answer to this question.

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Merkel: So you don't have

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a confirmation of residence?

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Reem: We had a very hard time lately,

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since we were almost deported

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and things were not going well at school.

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The teachers and students noticed it,

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therefore- Merkel: You were supposed to

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go back to Lebanon?

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Reem: Exactly. And I was really unwell-

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Merkel: What happened now?

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Reem: Now we got a temporary approval.

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We were in Berlin at the embassy,

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got our Lebanese passports

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and now we are waiting for an answer

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at the foreigners' registration office.

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Honestly, I want to see my family, again.

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All of this is really intense.

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I have not seen my family for four years.

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My aunt, grandma, grandpa...

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It's one of the things that really

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bear me down,

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that I really want.

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Merkel: Regarding the asylum bid,

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we have to ask ourselves:

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"Is there a reason for the request?"

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One thing we want to change is,

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as we discussed with the federal states,

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the following:

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When somebody already lives here

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for four years, it is very hard to say:

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"Well, now you learned German, beautifully,

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and are well-integrated,

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but we notice after these four years,

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that your asylum plea is not rightful."

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On the other hand, it is like this:

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Did you come directly from Lebanon

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or are you originally from Syria?

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Reem: Lebanon.

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Merkel: Lebanon is not considered

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a country that is directly involved

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in a civil war.

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Reem: Exactly.

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Merkel: Meaning,

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there are living very many people.

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Palestinian are living in refugee hostels.

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They live under bad circumstances,

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we know that.

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On the other hand,

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there are people who are in need,

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even more.

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They flee the civil war.

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We have to favour their asylum requests.

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Nevertheless, it is not good,

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if the decision takes so long.

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We have to change this

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and we also discussed it with the states.

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We will consider how to deal with those,

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who are living here since many years

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in an intermediate state.

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We now want a faster procedure,

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it might benefit you, too.

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We will say "yes" or "no".

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However, and I have got to say this,

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we will not take in all the people

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living in refugee hostels in Lebanon

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for 25 years.

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The reason is, that there are many

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coming directly from a war zone, still.

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Reem: Understandable.

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There is one question on my mind:

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I am here, now and I live.

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Yet my future is uncertain,

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so long as I don't really know,

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that I can stay here.

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Merkel: Well, of course.

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Reem: Can I -

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Merkel: Therefore,

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there has to be a decision, now.

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Reem: Exactly.

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Merkel: We asked ourselves

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"What should be changed?"

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and what we plan to do is

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to change the system

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so that someone like you does not

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live here for four years

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before a decison is made.

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Reem: Because I have goals just like -

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Merkel: Just like everybody else,

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of course.

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Reem: Exactly. I want to go to uni,

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that's a dream of mine

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and a goal I want to achieve, badly.

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It's really unpleasant

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to watch others enjoy life,

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while not being able to participate.

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Merkel: I understand it.

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However, politics can be hard.

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Now I met you,

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you are an incredibly likeable person.

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But you also know that there are

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thousands of people left

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in Lebanons refugee hostels.

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If we say: "You all can come here"

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and "everybody from Africa can come"

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and "All can come",

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we can't manage that.

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We are in this conflict

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and the only answer is

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not to take so long to decide things.

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It is a fact,

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that some will have to be sent back, though.

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host: Would be nice to take Reems' face

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with You, wouldn't it?

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Each time You discuss this speedup,

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You could remember the friendly face.

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It might encourage You,

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Federal Chancellor.

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Merkel: Encourage to do what? Be faster?

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host: To actively work on it.

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Merkel: We are doing that.

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We are determined

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that the situation is not acceptable

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We have so many familys

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with children going to school

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and something must change.

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host: Could You define a time frame?

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What does determined mean?

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Merkel: I think we might, in one year -

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You did a great job!

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host: Federal Chancellor, I don't think

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this is about doing a great job.

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This is a very burdening situation.

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Merkel: I know,

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that it is a burdening situation.

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And yet again I want to caress her,

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because we don't want

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to get you in such situations.

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Because you had a rough ride,

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but you did a great job

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at explaining to many, many others,

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in what situation one can be.

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host: We wanted to give you this wish

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to take along.

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Merkel: We also spoke about it,

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which is important.

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Sadly, she is not the only one

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in such a situation.

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Also, we spoke about it in carbinet,

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as we met as a government, today.

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By now there are 6.000 or even 7000

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underaged people,

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who are seeking asylum, on their own

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with Germany as a whole

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and the different federal states

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taking care.

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We do it, we want it.

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Even so, this makes us aware

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that at other places in the world

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it is not always as nice as here.

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There are so many people

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living under horrible circumstances.

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Part of this is the conflict between

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Israel and Palestine and the Arabic states

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waiting for resolving, still.

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You and many others suffer as a result.

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For years, decades,

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families and superfamilies

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live in refugee hostels, there.

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At the moment millions of people from

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Syria live in Jordan, Lebanon,

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as you know.

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We want your own countrys

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to become a good home, again.

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We help to achieve this, too.

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We can not welcome everyone to Germany,

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our political task also is to create

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good circumstances in other countrys,

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again.

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Germany helps to do that, too.