Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Lebanese clans living in Germany, who are involved in drug trafficking, have caused death and mayhem. The German police responded to a massive brawl which broke out on June 16 in front of a restaurant in Essen that left a 23-year-old Syrian man dead, several German police officers injured, and 150 Lebanese arrested.
The Lebanese clans operate in Germany as a mafia while controlling drug smuggling and distribution. The police used water cannons and a helicopter to try to contain the violence.
A Syrian family became involved in a dispute with the Lebanese, and the fight began involving hundreds of people on both sides of the conflict, and spread to other areas.
Syrian refugees number 800,000 according to a March 2021 survey. It is the largest refugee community in Germany.
The largest influx of Syrian refugees arrived in Germany from walking on foot across Europe after taking Turkish smuggling boats to Greece in the summer of 2015 when about 350,000 arrived asking for asylum. From the outset, the illegal smuggling activity is what got them to Germany. They were rewarded for breaking European immigration laws.
The Syrians since then have continued to arrive. The fighting in Syria has been over since 2017, but the country was never allowed to rebuild because of US and EU sanctions which prevent any reconstruction or creation of new jobs. The Syrians are economic migrants. They are not fleeing war, they are fleeing poverty and the sanctions which are designed to keep the Syrian people suffering. The US and EU foreign policy on Syria is to keep the citizens so poverty stricken, that they will rise up and overthrow the Damascus government. That was unable to be accomplished by the terrorists that the US and NATO employed since 2011, and it will not be possible now that the terrorists are gone.
The typical Syrian refugee in Germany, or anywhere, is an economic migrant who is firstly looking to obtain free benefits offered by the government, such as a monthly welfare check, free housing, food and medicine. Syrians are not there to put down roots, or become German. They seek German citizenship only as a means of staying there, and being able to travel easily on vacations and family visits.
Syrians are typically learning the German language just enough to qualify for benefits, or to get a job. Syrian women are not looking to work; they prefer to remain at home unemployed even if their children are grown. Even though working women are common inside Syria, the female Syrian refugee is not looking to contribute to the household income.
Syrian refugees in Germany are typically not interested in German politics, or political parties. Firstly, to join a party and vote a person must hold citizenship. Secondly, the name of the main political party is the Christian Democrat party, and almost all the Syrians are Muslim, which creates an immediate disassociation with the party.
Syrians don’t feel German, or that the country is their home. It is just a place to live safely, and gain an income. They generally don’t have any German friends, other than saying hello to co-workers or neighbors. Syrian women tend to only associate with other Syrian women, and only speak Arabic, further isolating them from German society. The children are very affected by their home life.
The German child protective services have been busy taking Syrian children away from their refugee parents. German neighbors are reporting parents who may spank or scream at their children. The Syrian customs of childrearing are not the same as European norms. Taking small children away from their own parents is a form of torture.
LGBTQ issues are understood and accepted in Europe, but are not accepted by countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon. Syrian refugee families in Germany have been teaching their children that Islam does not approve of the LGBTQ lifestyle, although all German laws protecting that community are to be obeyed. Syrians are asking their children to not participate in Gay Pride activities in school. This has led to German authorities issuing court decrees to remove young school aged children from their Muslim parents.
Syrian Christian families hold the same views on the issue of LGBTQ as the Syrian Muslim families. The Syrian culture is 10,000 years old, and the Christians in Syria were worshipping in churches when the German pagans were building bonfires and worshipping fire.
We have heard of the concept of the clash of civilizations, and east meets west in Germany, and the project of Syrian integration in Germany is a failed project.
Sweden is also taking school aged children away from their Syrian parents and placing them into a foster home, and the parents are prevented from even knowing where the child is at. The Swedish Social Services are teaching at the schools what is allowed and not allowed at home. This encourages the children to then report on their parents, which results in the child being taken away permanently.
There are many Syrian who have left home to find their place abroad. They have become productive members of society around the world, and may remain abroad for all their life. There is even a Syrian refugee who became the Mayor of a small town in Germany.
The US-NATO regime change project engineered by US President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden is a failure. It is time to allow Syria to be rebuilt and recover from an unjust war which left death and destruction in its path. The US and EU sanctions should be lifted and foreign investment in rebuilding begun. Eventually, those Syrians who are not interested in remaining in Germany, or elsewhere forever, can plan to return home to work and live in their own culture and religion.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award winning journalist
