German neo-Nazi protesters clash with police at new migrant shelter

Several Syrians walked past. Bernd’s friend Klaus – a former professional footballer who played in East Germany’s national league in the 1970s – said: “Look at them. They are running like giraffes.” But didn’t the GDR once welcome visitors from other fraternal communist countries? “Yes, we had Vietnamese. But they worked hard and went home afterwards,” Klaus said.
Hanke Kempe, an 18-year-old volunteer helping out in the refugee hostel, admitted there were those in the town who had misgivings. “Some people are afraid. They read all sorts of nonsense on Facebook, that the refugees get preferential treatment.” But she said young educated people were keen to help. They belonged to a swelling army of unpaid volunteers known as Ehrenamtliche.
Kempe and her three female student friends were taking bags of clothes and toys into the hostel. With more refugees arriving daily, the complex was struggling to cope. Some were sleeping in tents, others in a sports hall. Kempe said some blocks had no electricity and that the toilets had broken last week. “At home I have chickens. They live better than this,” she said.
The refugees, however, said that conditions were good and they had few complaints. Mishal Aldein, 26, said he had left for Germany after government troops besieged his village near Damascus. He escaped at night by bribing a policeman. He left for Lebanon, flew to Istanbul, took a boat to Greece, and then paid $2,500 (£1,620) to smugglers in Athens who drove him all the way to Munich.

A helper puts a jacket on a refugee boy in Munich. Many Germans have welcomed refugees with open arms. Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty ImagesMost people in Eisenhüttenstadt had been friendly, he said. He admitted, however, that one man had shown him the finger, and another had pressed himself against a wall as he passed “as if we were germs”. The German government was giving him basic support – €47.10 every 10 days – he said.Since Monday, the harassed local administration is looking after 3,000 refugees. Some think the new arrivals might rejuvenate Eisenhüttenstadt, bringing life back to the area after years of seemingly inexorable decline. “For regions threatened with depopulation, refugees are good,” David Steinbeiss said, speaking next to a banner that read: “Refugees welcome, against racism and the right.”About 500 men are living in a second camp run by the German Red Cross. Most are in tents, in sleeping bags. Staff said there were plans to construct a more permanent building before winter arrives. The refugees were keen to help: two carpenters had made a portico for the Red Cross office; others were refurbishing bikes in a workshop. All attended free German courses.