Caritas Youth

Today, I take my time machine and go back to yesterday. In other words, this post is one day late.

We visited Caritas Youth yesterday. Some of the minors (under 18) who came to Germany without guardians are living in Caritas Youth. Some of them lost contact with family during the travel; others were sent to Europe alone because their family could not afford to pay the smugglers to get all family members to Europe.

The condition in Caritas Youth is better than the camp we have visited at Fürstenfeldbruck. However, it does not mean that they enjoy their stay. Because of the misinformation fed by the smugglers, those family who sent their kids to Europe thought that it is easier for their children to get asylum in Europe and then they could come and reunite with their children in Europe under asylum later on. However, it is obviously not the case in Germany, just like many lies smugglers tell people in Syria and Nigeria.

These children, on the one hand, suffered the ordeal of traveling across many countries by themselves before arriving at Germany; on the other hand, they are far away from home and family with the burden to get asylum to fulfill the hope of the family and survive in a strange place. I am not sure how these stress and anxiety would impact them psychologically. After all, they are forced to be independent in a strange place far away from home. They have no choice but to fight for survival when most of their peers are still living with their family and ask their parents to pay for their extra fries in McDonald’s.

We were introduced to an 18-year-old boy. I asked him whether he has made friends here. His answer is that he has friends but no close friends. I asked him if they share stories with each other. He said they do not tell stories to each other. By then, it was just silence in his bedroom.

Then I was told that his application for asylum was denied (negative feedback) and he is going to be sent to a camp for adult soon. At that time, I felt that I was such a fool to ask such insensitive questions.

According to the manager, most of these children received a decent education in their home country. However, there was only one successful case here who found a job in Munich before being sent to a camp for adults. It was so rare and precious that they decided to invite media to cover the story to improve public’s view on refugee and encourage children in the meantime.

The manager also mentioned that they made a mistake by putting ads in the newspaper to find a place for these children to live. Instead of receiving relevant information, they received very unfriendly responses in which people bluntly refused to rent their house to refugee children. Until now, I still do not understand why people actively expressed unfriendliness.

Refugee is already a vulnerable group. Children among refugees are even more vulnerable. They are supposed to represent hope. But it is hardly what you can feel here.

(The building in the picture is not Caritas Youth. The picture was taken when I was on the train)