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BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- As winter temperatures set in across parts of Germany, refugees and migrants living in tents are struggling with the cold weather. Local authorities in southern Germany have been forced to close a tent city for refugees, saying they can no longer manage to take proper care of the people that have taken shelter there.
A long, hard and often treacherous journey to what was meant to be a bright new future.
The refugees that reached "camp Schwar-zen-born" in Germany's southern state of Hessen expected more.
"I had imagined Germany better than this. When I came here, I came to Hessen and then I went to Giessen camp and stayed two days in the street. Then I came here. You know, the situation is very bad here, the weather and the snow...Yesterday, the generator broke for five hours. You know, in the camp when the generator is off, cold is killing," said Mounir Abu Khalil, Syrian refugee.
With temperatures barely above freezing, the temporary camp has experienced some serious difficulties.
"It was planned from the outset to have this installation as a temporary solution. We are more than 500 meters above sea level and it's simply getting too cold. We can no longer take responsibility for people having to sleep in tents in this cold. So we urgently looked for an alternative and we found appropriate accommodation," said Michael Stein, head of Schwar-zen-born Refugee Camp.
The camp's 380 inhabitants were taken to alternative accommodation near the city of Kassel on Thursday.
In the western city of Duesseldorf, authorities are also planning to move refugees from temporary camps to buildings which can be more easily heated.
"We had planned from the beginning not to make these tents winter-proof. It's not just about low temperatures in such a tent during winter...The next accommodation will be very different," said Miriam Koch, refugee commissioner for Duesseldorf.
As temperatures continue to drop, authorities are coming under increasing pressure to come up with plans to house the thousands of refugees stranded in makeshift accomodation.
With more and more people arriving each day the situation is only going to get more urgent.
German border officials estimate that 5 to 7-thousand migrants and refugees cross the border from Austria every day.
Most are fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. We can only hope they will receive a warmer welcome in the future.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
