By Salwa Saada and Michael Seifert In July 2020, Germany took over the EU Council Presidency and thus the chairmanship of the EU negotiations at ministerial level. Right at the beginning, the Federal Minister of the Interior formulated the most important goals in refugee policy: reforming the European asylum system by means of a common asylum policy, creating EU centres for the reception of refugees in the countries of arrival with external borders and rapid examination of applications there, binding distribution quota to all EU countries. The corona-crisis and the consequently closed borders prevented all negotiations on the implementation of… Read More
Category: News In English
Two-thirds of refugees are in work, training or language courses
By Michael Seifert Two-thirds of the 1180 refugees between the ages of 18 and 65, who are supervised by the administrative district office Tübingen, have found work or are in training, school or language courses. This positive development is according to the fourth report made by the special service refugees (Fachdienst Geflüchtete), which was presented to the district assembly in September. According to it, 25.5 % are employed and 8.2 % are in training. Almost 30 % of refugees are visiting a language course and 8.4 % go to school. The numbers refer to the refugees in the district of… Read More
The cohabitation of humans and animals led to the first epidemics in ancient times
Youssef Kanjou Epidemics are a topic of conversation among people all over the world these days. An interesting question is when and how they first occurred in human history. There is no archaeological and anthropological evidence of epidemics in the time when people started to colonize the Earth. Only much later were there rare signs of it, found by archaeologists in bone remains. When people were hunting and gathering, they lived in small groups that moved from one place to another. The dog was the only animal that lived right next to them. In this phase, people were healthy because… Read More
“My mind was always thinking negatively,” Hasan’s experience of corona
By Mohammad Nazir Momand Hasan Jafari, a 29-year-old Afghan, talked to Mohammad Nazir Momand, a member of tünews INTERNATIONAL, about his infection with Covid-19. He was infected during the beginning of the pandemic in Germany. He is a trained geriatric nurse and works in a care home. He arrived in Germany four years ago. Hasan was infected by a colleague who came back from vacation and who did not know that he was infected. This happened even though the care home was following hygiene concepts. Hasan remembers very well that he first showed symptoms on March 23rd, 2020. “I had… Read More
Flour – more than just a baking ingredient
By Bright Edosa Igbinovia Every day, millions of people in Germany use and eat flour, be it to make a delicious cake or to eat a tasty loaf of bread. Most people simply go to the supermarket and pick out the flour they want or head to the bakery to buy their favorite bread there. Most know of the different flour-types (oat, wheat, barley, spelt and rye to name a few). Yet, many do not know the process of how the grains are turned into flour or what exactly makes them different from one another. Bright Edosa Igbinovia, a collaborator… Read More
The separation and reunification of Germany
By Hanna Sannwald Every year on October 3rd, Germany celebrates the “German Unity Day”. This is a national holiday. But, why is this day celebrated? After Germany lost the Second World War (1939-1945), the four winning powers divided Germany into four parts. Today’s states Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen were occupied by the Soviet Union. The other states were the occupation zones of France, the USA and Great Britain. Although Berlin was in the Soviet Union area, it was separated into four zones, one for each winner. This was decided Berlin was the capital. After the end of the… Read More
Love brought them together: a marriage in the time of Corona
By Sameer Ibrahim Since ancient times, wedding traditions have differed from society to society. In Arabic countries, a marriage takes place only after the consent of the parents. A marriage is performed at the registry office, and there may also be a religious ceremony. But for the marriage of Alhamzah and Ibtihaj – both younger than 30 – it was not so… love brought them together! Before the marriage, they lived together in an apartment. In October of 2019, they planned to get married on April 11th, 2020. They hoped to hold a big party with 350 guests, but because… Read More
Hagia Sophia: World Heritage Site becomes a mosque
About an international controversy and vision By Youssef Kanjou and Michael Seifert On 24th July 2020 the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was reopened as a mosque. Before that it was a museum, which is the main tourist attraction in Turkey with over three million visitors annually. The Turkish president had decided and announced this a few weeks earlier, after the highest Turkish court had cleared the way for it. Recep Erdoğan, thus, triggered an international controversy with several protests. But why does half the world seem to be arguing about this? The Hagia Sophia has been on the UNESCO World… Read More
From “sea pony” to lifeguard
Liam Fitzstevens waited in the Tübingen citizens’ office in December 2017. There he leafed through number 74 of tünews INTERNATIONAL. A story fascinated the American biologist who came to Tübingen to do his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute. It was about a swimming course for refugee girls – a project of the voluntary initiative “Swimming for all children”. At the beginning of 2018, Liam spoke to Dagmar Müller, the founder and manager of the project. Since then, the former competitive swimmer has been a voluntary trainer and trains lifeguards with Adrian Wendt, who is also 25 years old. Yusuf… Read More
Inflation in Syria: More than nine million people are suffering from hunger
“The rich are at war and the poor are fighting against it,” said a Syrian who has been suffering due to the war in Syria for nine years, especially at hands of the massive monetary inflation. The Syrian Pound fell to a record level. At the beginning of June, money changers on the black market asked 3000 Lira for one dollar. However, the official price remained at 700 Lira, which caused retailers to close their stores in many cities. At the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, a dollar was said to have cost 47 lira. According to the… Read More