The independent district administrator (formerly SPD) of Western Pomerania-Rügen, Stefan Kerth (photo), recently spoke to Nius about the topics of asylum, migration and integration and recounted a harrowing experience. He described how events surrounding the Hamas attack on Israel on the 7th of October 2023 fundamentally changed his view of integration work in his region.
Kerth explained that October 7 was a turning point for him, when he realised that the situation in his region, which he had once considered ideal for supporting integration was much more difficult than he had thought. In a region where the conditions for integration were ideal, an incident had occurred that caused considerable distress to the local social workers with their strong Christian ethos. They had worked for years to integrate migrants and considered their efforts to be successful – until the day they hoisted the Israeli flag.
According to Kerth, the social workers were subjected to massive threats after the flag was hoisted. ‘Deadlines were set: ‘If the flag isn’t down by then, we’ll take it down’,’ reports the district administrator. The threats had come from young people, but they had been supported by their parents. The situation had taken a dramatic turn for those involved and had unsettled their beliefs in the positive development of integration.
This experience was particularly painful for the social workers, whom Kerth described as ‘do-gooders’ in the best sense of the word. For them, a ‘complete world’ collapsed when they were confronted with the open rejection and threats. The incident made it clear that such conflicts now also exist in rural regions that were considered unproblematic. In this context, Kerth asked whether too little was being done. He emphasised that integration is not just a social responsibility, but ‘possibly also a debt to be discharged’. In any case, he would want to implement this socially and politically, he explained.