European authorities teach refugees Western etiquette with brochures
Having familiarized themselves with the content of some “etiquette guides,” Lenta.ru notes that the host side’s advice to migrants can be conditionally divided into two types. The first is general recommendations for living in a new country, which, according to the creators of the brochures, will be useful to refugees of all genders and ages.
“Residents of Germany may seem strange,” says, for example, the 30-page brochure “How to Be German,” compiled by the Cologne branch of the left-wing party Linkspartei. “We have quirks, but we also have rules.” Among the latter are the need to sort garbage, punctuality and the inadmissibility of urinating on the street: “Trees only need water. For everything else, there are toilets.” It is also reminded that women in Germany do not wear niqabs or burqas, and that a license is required for fishing.
Recall that among the first set of rules for migrants were published by the authorities of the town of Hardheim back in October 2015. The settlement 75 kilometers from Frankfurt with 4,600 residents took in about a thousand refugees. Officials had to defend their code against criticism: it was scolded for a patronizing tone and generally called a waste of the city budget. “This guide was not created to humiliate anyone, but to facilitate communication between residents and those seeking asylum,” Hardheim Mayor Volker Rom replied to the reproaches then.
The second most important block in the recommendations to migrants is gender prescriptions and everything related in one way or another to issues of sex, relationships and marriage. After the New Year’s events in Cologne, when on the festive night hundreds of women were subjected to harassment and violence by men, many of whom were newcomers from Africa and the Middle East, publications with rules of gender interaction proliferated like mushrooms after the rain.
In particular, such a manual was published by the German media holding Bayerischer Rundfunk. One of its managers, Markus Huber, said that the brochure was created in consultation with the refugees themselves and was positively received by them. The publisher reminds overseas guests that “women must be respected, regardless of what they are wearing.”
“Men and women greet each other with a handshake, during which it is customary to look each other in the eye,” they teach manners to people from North Africa and the Middle East, where any physical contact between members of the opposite sex who are not relatives is strictly forbidden. The manual also raises the issue of sexual minorities: “In Germany, homosexuals are allowed to demonstrate their sexual preferences in public.”
The Bayerischer Rundfunk instruction is available in English, German and Arabic. It emphasizes that violators of rules and laws in Germany will inevitably be punished: “Conflicts should not be resolved through violence. Such actions lead to imprisonment and may affect the chances of receiving asylum.”
The Belgian government also teaches migrants how to properly treat Western women. The guide distributed at refugee reception centers includes advice on dating and flirting. The compilers of the instruction noted that “there are no strict rules in flirting,” but pointed out to male migrants the need to start a conversation with a greeting, while it is recommended to “be funny,” “look in the eyes, but don’t stare” and “do not touch women with your hands.”
The brochure states that whistling at a woman is a “risky idea” because “not all women find it funny.” If a female is wearing a sexy dress, it does not mean she is looking for a man for intercourse, the authors remind.
New arrivals were also explained that in Europe polygamy, forced sex and marriage, and violence against prostitutes are punishable by law. Migrants were informed that in Belgium same-sex individuals can marry and have children, and tolerance towards transgender people is accepted. They were also warned about sexually transmitted diseases.
The authorities of Munich, in cooperation with the local center for intercultural communication, have issued illustrated rules for refugees wishing to visit city pools. The need for such a measure arose after unacceptable incidents began to occur in the health facilities of the region. Female visitors complained that male migrants behaved excitedly, pestered and harassed them. There were no precedents of violence, but many women left the pool. In the city of Bornheim, for example, after numerous complaints from girls, male refugees were completely banned from swimming.
Germany's Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Aydan Özoğuz, believes that issuing brochures alone does not solve the problem: “It's not about cultural differences, but about specific offenses. We cannot respond to them by creating integration courses. Only punishment and, if necessary, deportation,” she says.
Özoğuz does not deny that brochures and courses can be useful for law-abiding migrants willing to assimilate. Some refugees agree with her. “The mindset and way of life here are completely different,” shares Addis, a 35-year-old social worker from Eritrea who now lives in Berlin in an apartment provided to him. “For example, gay marriages are shocking. But we must adapt and learn to live with it.” In his opinion, younger refugees find it easier to get used to European mores than older ones.
The newly minted Berliner Mohammed, a former elementary school teacher from the Syrian city of Hama, also has no doubt that most migrants will be able to adopt the European way of life, especially if one recalls the chaos they fled from: «In Germany there are many rules, but, in the end, they are meant to make life easier. Some principles are complicated, but they help people be a society.»