Merkel im Bürgerdialog - Das ungeschnittene Gespräch mit dem Flüchtlingsmädchen Reem

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.