It is the last day of Ramadan, friends and family gather around the table, stomachs grumbling, as it is now finally time to eat. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes. They greet one another with “Eid Mubarak”. Then, prayers are performed, asking for Allah’s forgiveness. Finally, people start passing around dates- the food used to break fast. As nighttime falls over Germany, these Syrian refugees feast until their stomachs are stuffed. 

Millions of refugees have fled from their homes in order to escape conflicts in the Middle East, including countries such as Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Southern Sudan. Many of these refugees hope to end up in Germany. 

One reason why Germany is supporting refugees because it is the moral thing to do. It is important to keep in mind that these refugees are being forced to leave their homes because they worry about being killed on a daily basis. Two brothers from Syria, whose names will remain undisclosed, that I interviewed in my documentary, explained that most of their friends had died due to war. Everyone should be able to feel safe. Fleeing from one's homeland is something that no one wants to do. The journey, on its own, to get to Germany, is very difficult and requires many sacrifices. 

These two brothers traveled to Germany, fleeing from the war in Syria, with their mother, pregnant aunt, and little sister, when they were nineteen and twenty-one. The first step of their journey was to take a plane to Turkey. Next, they boarded a boat headed to Greece. After Greece, they traveled towards Germany through forests in the winter. They had to sleep in extremely cold weather with clothes not made for those conditions. At one point, when they were traveling through Hungary, they were arrested and taken to a small, filthy room, where they were forced to sign papers and have their thumbprints taken. This is so the Hungarian government could claim that they were taking care of refugees and receive money from the German government. In Hungary, they were only given dirty water to drink and no food to eat. Once they stayed there for two days, they were finally released and could continue their journey to Germany. Their trip took them about one month and one week. They stated that getting to Germany was always their goal because they heard that Germany is where they have the best chances of building a great future for themselves and a place where they can continue their education.  

Benefits of going to Germany instead of other countries include welfare and housing. According to Deutsche Welle, "If an asylum-seeker is living outside a refugee shelter, a single adult receives €216 euros a month while married couples receive €122 each". However, refugees are not the only ones who are acquiring benefits. 

Germany is making a morally correct move, but it isn't 100% altruistic. Media often rightfully portrays Germany as a helpful country- while these depictions may be true, it is important to not only look at what Germany is doing for the refugees, but what the refugees are doing for Germany. The brothers voiced their desire to be productive members of German society. They were getting their credentials so that they could continue their work in Germany. 

While Germany may be making morally sound decisions regarding immigration, Germany is also morally obligated not to see refugees from a deficit perspective. It is vital to Germany's economic system that new people become a part of the workforce. The number of deaths in Germany is significantly higher than the number of births. Business Insider reports that "Berlin estimates its working-age population will shrink by 6 million people by 2030...", and employees are struggling to find workers- epically in hospital and caretaker sectors. 

This is not the first time that foreigners have helped Germany's economy grow. During Germany's economic boom in the '50s-'70s, Germany invited Italian and Turkish people to come as "guest workers".   Initially, it was planned that the guest workers were to return to their homelands after two years, but Germany soon realized that it would be economically beneficial to keep the ones that were already trained, instead of sending them back home. This is something Germany is considering for those who were not granted refugee status. 

Just because the refugees were not asked to come to Germany, does not mean that they cannot contribute to the economic growth of the country. Germany is morally obligated to recognize the refugee's value. One way of doing so is by giving refugees the dignity to allow them to be productive members of society. This would involve recognizing the skills they are bringing to Germany.