Fury of German villagers after officials admit that 750 migrants will stay for at least a year
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3305328/There-people-struggle-cope-Fury-German-village-outnumbered-migrants-seven-one-official-admits-stay-YEAR.html
- The 102 residents of Sumte will soon be outnumbered by seven to one
- Already 229 people at the centre - but some are from places like Serbia
- Centre boasts medical and childcare facilities, a cafeteria and translators
- Many locals are angry there is 'so much' for refugees and nothing for them
Tension
is growing in the tiny German village where the quiet population of
just 102 people is set to swell by 700 per cent as 750 migrants arrive -
as they were today told the new arrivals would stay for at least a
year.
People
living in Sumte, in eastern Germany, will be outnumbered by seven to
one when the final wave of migrants arrive in the coming days.
Authorities
have agreed to house 750 migrants in a disused office block in the
hamlet - despite anger from locals that they will be 'overwhelmed' at
the number swell.
Long time: The charity running the new
refugee centre in the German town of Sumte, which has space for 750,
say they have been given the buildings for a year by the government -
which has further upset locals
Overwhelmed: The charity had originally hoped to house 1,000 people at the centre - 10 times the population
Sympathetic: But while some residents
have spoken of their anger at the arrival of the refugees, others -
like Artur Kankau, 87, a retired farmer, felt nothing but sympathy.
'When you are a refugee you are like a leaf blown around by the wind,'
Mr Kankau, once a refugee himself, told MailOnline
‘They told us we were going to Frankfurt, but we've ended up...
'They'll all be living on €500-a-month benefits': Tensions...
They're here! First of 750 migrants arrive in tiny German...
But
today they were told that the migrants, the first of which arrived in
two coaches under the cover of darkness on Monday, will stay until at
least November 2016.
In
a hastily arranged press conference today, centre director Jens Meyer,
of the welfare group Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ABS), admitted the
temporary shelter had a 'one-year mandate'.
'The government has given us a one-year mandate to run this centre,' he said.
The sprawling camp of disused office buildings is housing 229 men, women and children comprising of 19 nationalities.
There
is a medical clinic, a children's nursery, a cafeteria, a shop and
washing facilities. Rows of camp beds and mattresses are lined up in
several of the single storey buildings.
However, those living there have already started to complain of the food on offer.
Advantages: These men - pictured with
MailOnline reporter Nick Fagge, left - were on the hunt for a bus to
take them to the nearest shop. As of Friday, there will be a daily
shuttle - but residents will still just have the once-weekly bus to take
them to and from the store
Anger: Local residents have told
MailOnline they are 'furious' everything is being done for the refugees
but nothing for those who were already living in the village
Grateful: Hisham, 33, said he was
happy with everything he had found at the camp, but the teacher, who
fled the Syrian civil war, wondered why they were so far away from a
town
The
catering manager told MailOnline: 'The refugees don't like the German
food. They like it if we make meals like spaghetti but they don't like
typical German food, like Spetzl - egg noodles.'
The
refugees come from various countries, with the largest number from
Syria - but they are also from safe European nations such as Serbia,
Montenegro and Kosovo, Mr Meyer said.
Refusing
to say how much the centre would cost taxpayers to run, he told a press
conference: 'Today we have 229 refugees, including 50 children.
'They come from 19 countries with the largest number from Syria and Afghanistan.
'We have a medical centre, a cafeteria, a kindergarten, and translators.
'Tomorrow
we will start to run a shuttle bus every hour to Neuhaus [a nearby
village with shops] and on Monday we will start German lessons.
'We are doing our best.'
News
that the migrants will be staying for so long was met with horror by
residents, who already feel 'let down' by officials who have 'thrust'
the situation on them.
Marion, 66, told MailOnline: 'We are angry that there is nothing for us local people but everything for the refugees.
Facilities: At the centre there is a medical clinic, a children's nursery, a cafeteria, a shop and washing facilities
Increasing: So far 229 people,
including 50 children, have arrived in Sumte, with most of them from
Syria and Afghanistan - but some from countries like Serbia and
Montenegro
'There
is no street lighting and there is only one bus a week for the old
people. The authorities don't care about us. They haven't even build a
bridge over the river [Elbe].
'They [the authorities] say the camp will be here for a year but I'm sure it will be longer.
'I don't think the camp should be here for a year - that's too long.
'It will change the nature of the village.
'In
the summer young people, girls, will not want to go swimming in the
lake like we normally do because there will be young men around all the
time.'
Widow, Heidi, 81, told MailOnline: 'We are only 102 people living here and we are being overwhelmed by refugees.
'I
have nothing against the refugees, I was a refugee myself in World War
Two, but the government is giving them everything but when I needed help
they gave me nothing.
'I
had to nurse my sick son on my own with no help from the state.
Everyday I had to wash and clean him. And I had to renovate my flat to
make life easier for him. He had diabetes. He died last year, aged 46.
'Doing our best': Jens Meier (right,
the head of the camp , and his deputy Daniela Hartwig, spoke to the
press today, revealing people had arrived in the tiny hamlet from 19
countries
Influx: The empty government office block (pictured, behind guarded gates) which is now a refugee centre
'I asked for help to pay for the funeral but I was refused twice.
'I'm
81-years-old and I have to cycle to the cemetery 5km away. My son, my
husband and my mother are buried there and I can only get there by bike.
'There is a bus only once a week for us old people but buses take the refugees to the supermarket every day.'
However other residents have welcomed the refugees.
Artur
Kankau, 87, a retired farmer told MailOnline: 'I feel sorry for these
people I was a refugee myself. I was sent to Siberia as a prisoner of
war in 1945, I was 16. I know what it's like.
'When you are a refugee you are like a leaf blown around by the wind.'
As
simmering tension threatened to bubble over, four Syrian men took their
first steps outside their new home - taking 'selfies' and marvelling at
the German countryside
Holding
up smartphones and chain-smoking cigarettes the young men in their 20s
wandered along the lanes of Sumte, the remote hamlet in eastern Germany
that will soon be home to 750 refugees.
Refusing
to answer questions the men did however enquire if there was a bus to
the nearest shop, five kilometres away in nearby Neuhaus.
Speaking in broken English, one refugee asked: 'Autobus? We Syria.'
Later,
another group of Syrian refugees told MailOnline they were grateful for
everything that was being done for them. But said they wished the camp
was not in the middle of the countryside.
Hisham,
33, from Syria, said: 'Everything in the camp is good. The people are
kind and we are very grateful for ever they are doing for us.
'But it is so far from everything, in the middle of the countryside. There is no shop, no bus, nothing.
'We have most things that we need but if we want to buy something it's 5km to the nearest shop.'
Hisham, a teacher, arrived at the refugee centre at Sumte yesterday after fleeing the war in Syria.
Opinion: Drain cleaners Uwe Pokrandt
and Raschad Sadullayer told MailOnline reporter Nick Fagge (left) they
had very different views - with Uwe welcoming the new jobs, but Raschad
fearing local services would struggle
Accommodation: The newly arrived refugees and migrants will sleep in beds like this at the centre
Tensions
have been rising among the 102 original residents of Sumte who fear
their community will be overwhelmed and the local services swamped by
the new arrivals.
They
had fought against plans for 1,000-capacity refugee centre in their
village. The authorities overruled their objections but agreed to scale
the camp back to 750. The first 100 refugees, including Syrians, arrived
on Monday night.
The population is set to rise to 500 by the end of the week.
The
sleepy village has become the symbol of Germany’s struggle to cope with
the overwhelming influx of migrants streaming into the country every
day by the thousand.
Drain
cleaner Raschad Sadullayer, 30, who is originally from Turkey, told
MailOnline: 'I think there are too I many people here for this village
and they have come too quickly. Local services will struggle to cope.'
A
60-year-old local builder, who gave his as Norbert, added: 'We are only
102 people in the village, this number of refugees is too much. They
have to go somewhere but there are no facilities for them here.'
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