- Women Mayors writers
- Jun 30
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 1
Angela Merkel in conversation with former refugees
The German ex-Chancellor listened to their stories of successes and setbacks, joys and sorrows
In 2022, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, named former German Chancellor Angela Merkel winner of the Nansen Award for offering a haven to over 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence at the height of the Syrian conflict in 2016. (Photo: Steffen Kugler, German government)
July 2025: Ten years ago, when hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Germany, Angela Merkel, the chancellor at the time, urged her fellow citizens to welcome the newcomers and said “Wir schaffen das” (we will manage). Now, four years after she resigned from office, Merkel met with some of the refugees in a Berlin restaurant.
In the conversation, organised by the public service broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), the participants described how they had fared in their new German homeland. They talked about their successes and setbacks, and also described their joys and sorrows. Angela Merkel also described how she came to make what is perhaps her most famous statement (wir schaffen das) and commented on the current German government's refugee policy.
Five former refugees took part in the conversation with Angela Merkel. They come from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran and now live in North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Lower Saxony. Now, after ten years, they all feel they have arrived in Germany, are studying, working or have completed an apprenticeship. As for many other refugees, Angela Merkel is a symbol of a life in safety and peace for them too.
Before she met the former refugees, Angela Merkel said: “We very often talk about people who came to us, but perhaps not often enough with the people.”
The five guests talked openly, movingly and also critically about their journey to Germany, about challenges, successes, and the dark side of integration. They talked about overcrowded refugee accommodation, war traumas, starting a career and training. And there was also criticism.
In the run-up to the television broadcast, the Westdeutscher Rundfunk announced that the unfiltered programme would portray what it was like to arrive in Germany, what hopes the refugees had and what hurdles they had to overcome. The editors said the people told of racism, perseverance and new beginnings. “Their stories are exemplary for many - and for a decade that changed Germany.”
The new start in Germany was anything but easy for many: Akram, a minor at the time, fled from the civil war in Syria to Lebanon. He and his family managed to leave for Germany via a UN resettlement programme. However, Akram suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, but no concrete help was initially forthcoming.
“I realised something was wrong with me, I am still stuttering.’” The disorder was only recognised and treated much later. “What was missing was that the people who arrived here were taken by the hand and told: ‘You need psychological support’.” His fellow refugees at the table nodded in sympathy. Merkel seemed to understand the problem, but pointed to the generally difficult care situation in Germany.
Angela Merkel described the situation in 2015, in part self-critically: "That was an unexpected situation for us. I would say that, looking back, we didn't look at it for a long time. What is it like in the refugee camps in Lebanon? What is it like in Jordan? What about the many internally displaced people in Syria? We had not given enough money to the World Food Programme. The hopelessness had become greater and greater. And then people arrived in their tens of thousands."
The former German Chancellor also used the conversation to take a political stance. She expressed her concern about the current political discourse in Germany and distanced herself from the government's practice of rejecting refugees. The new government under Friedrich Merz recently decided that asylum seekers can be turned back at Germany's borders without going through an asylum procedure. Vulnerable people, such as unaccompanied children and sick people, are exempt.
It was a special evening for everyone involved - not only because of Angela Merkel, but also because memories, expectations and personal stories were able to come together.
The programme "10 years on: Refugees in conversation with Angela Merkel" was broadcast on Monday (30 June). The conversation was recorded on Thursday (26 June) in a Syrian restaurant in Berlin. It was moderated by Borhan Akid and Bamdad Esmaili, who both have refugee experience. The programme continues to be available on Germany's free playback TV, ARD Mediathek.
Further reading: Leila Mustapha | Gaza cities under attack | Pope Francis |
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