2023-11-11 10:51:46
Mistaken for refugee
Syrian woman goes hiking in Saxony – the police are waiting at the hotel
Riham Alkousaa hiked through the forests of Saxon Switzerland with a group from Syria. Everyone had to present their IDs when returning to the hotel.
Published11. November 2023, 11:51
On November 9, 2023, Riham Alkousaa went hiking with a group from Syria to the wooded mountain region of Saxon Switzerland.
X/Riham Alkousaa
When the group returned to the hotel that evening, the police were waiting for them.
X/Riham Alkousaa
Riham Alkousaa works as a journalist for the media group Thomson Archyde.com.
Facebook/Riham Alkousaa
She lives in Berlin.
Facebook/Riham Alkousaa
Alkousaa and the other Syrians are members of a hiking club registered in Germany.
Facebook/Riham Alkousaa
Despite the unpleasant experience, the Syrian woman refused to let herself down. The next day she went hiking once more in the forests of Saxon Switzerland.
Facebook/Riham Alkousaa
The Syrian Riham Alkousaa is a member of a hiking club registered in Germany.
On Thursday the group in Saxony was checked by the police.
The right-wing extremist AfD party does particularly well in elections there.
As the journalist Riham Alkousaa and her group hiking through the wooded mountain region of Saxon Switzerland in the eastern German state of Saxony When they returned to their hotel, the police were waiting for them. The IDs of the hikers – mostly Syrians from all over Germany – were checked. Alkousaa asked what the problem was. The officers explained that a person had previously alerted the police because they had seen a group of foreigners as illegal refugees had reported.
The Syrians are members of a hiking club registered in Germany, which had chosen the forests in the Czech border area to go on a hike that day. All participants in the group are legally in Germany with either a work or student visa.
AfD is the strongest party in the state of Saxony
Riham Alkousaa described her experience on X (formerly Twitter). The journalist, who works for the media group Thomson Archyde.com, received a lot of support in the comments: Some users apologized for the actions of the police and those of the caller. But there are also numerous discriminatory comments to be read.
In the state of Saxony, the right-wing extremist party AfD is doing particularly well in elections. As the “Taz” reports, the AfD is currently the strongest force in the polls. Over 35 percent of residents would vote for the right-wing extremists in the next state election on September 1, 2024. However, it is unlikely that the AfD will come to power as no other party wants to enter into a coalition with it.
Despite the unpleasant experience, the Syrian Riham Alkousaa refused to let herself be discouraged. On Friday she posted another picture of herself in the forests of Saxon Switzerland: “Still hiking, we’re carrying on,” she wrote.
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