Germany's refugees struggle to fit in with everyone else

LEIPZIG, Germany — Mohammad Shafiq survived an assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban, narrowly avoided drowning when crossing the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece in a smuggler's boat and endured the agonies of family separation.

Now he faces what may be his toughest challenge yet: integrating into German society with more than 1 million other asylum seekers.

"It is very hard, but at least here I am free to follow my heart," Shafiq, 21, said Monday at one of the 30 refugee residences set up for 9,000 migrants living in this eastern German city of 550,000.

"In Pakistan, mosques are not safe, schools are not safe, churches are not safe, cities are not safe," Shafiq said. "There is violence and death everywhere. This is not a life."

Integrating migrants is also on the minds of the German government. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday aimed at creating job opportunities, easing social tensions sparked by the influx of newcomers and strengthening the ability of the government to determine where asylum seekers live. The measures, which the parliament must ratify, include a requirement for migrants to undergo assimilation training.

Shafiq arrived here a year ago after fleeing Peshawar, Pakistan, where he risked his life going door-to-door to give out polio vaccines, a health initiative that the Taliban, an Islamic extremist group, believes is a ruse for Western espionage. Today, the hip city of Leipzig has brought him unexpected joy: a German-born girlfriend. "She understands my mind, and I understand her. She respects me, and I respect her," he said.

The aspiring professional swimmer and fan of Justin Bieber represents all that Germany is demanding of its recent arrivals. He wants to learn the language quickly, find work and become part of society.

While he and many like him are grateful to the German government, they are frustrated by the slow pace of regulations they must follow to get on with their lives. Asylum rights can take months to establish, because authorities must determine that the migrants fled for their safety, not just for better economic opportunities.

"I don't want Germany to just say 'welcome refugees.' I also want them to know that we have capabilities and we are ready to work and be useful here," said Amra Adress, 31, a trained teacher from Syria who has worked for the United Nations.

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Deputy Mayor Thomas Fabian, who is in charge of asylum seekers here, said he believes the new legislation, which would remove barriers to employment, is a good first step. "We need to do everything we can so that these people don't feel excluded," he said. "Quite the opposite, we need to make sure that they are integrating properly — from a moral and humanitarian point of view, but also in terms of maintaining social peace in our cities. But first, they need to learn the language."

Fabian said Leipzig has avoided some of the problems caused by the arrival of mostly Muslims in overwhelmingly Christian Germany. The city hired a lot of social workers, dispersed refugees to neighborhoods of different income levels and involved longtime residents in decisions about how to care for the newcomers.

"I am not naive. We will face problems, but we have also had problems with people who have been living in Germany for a long time," he said.

Alexander Melzer, director of an organization that runs 17 of Leipzig's refugee homes, said he encourages German families to spend time with the asylum seekers. "If you get families together doing things, then it's harder for them to dislike one another," he said.

Leipzig may be a relative exception in a country where there is a growing backlash against the tidal wave of migrants. Germany's Interior Ministry this week reported 1,485 crimes against migrants, up from 1,029 in 2014. Offenses targeting homes of asylum seekers more than quadrupled to 923, it said.

Another sign of anti-migrant fervor: The rise in popularity of the nationalist party Alternative for Germany that wants to stop new mosques from being built and place other restrictions on the nation's 4 million Muslims.

Negative opinion about migrants grew early this year following reports that a large group of men of African or Arab appearance sexually assaulted women during New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne. More than 1,000 criminal complaints were filed. Nine men were convicted of theft, but no one has been successfully prosecuted for sexual assault.

After those attacks, the Federal Center for Health Education sparked derision when it launched a website with detailed information and diagrams that explained to asylum seekers good and bad ways to have sex and how to use public toilets without leaving them dirty. Many migrants and other Germans criticized the patronizing tone of the website.

"People have so many mistaken ideas about us, said Adham Diab, 36, a Syrian refugee living here. "In Syria, I can tell you we have the same system when it comes to using the toilet. We also have restaurants and theaters."