NO GO ZONE
No one likes change, and the residents of the small town of Alpnach, Switzerland are no exception. Despite all their protests, the Swiss government recently opened a refugee center in this village of only 6,000 people. It will house 100 asylum seekers, with the vast majority coming from Africa and the Middle East. Although the locals don’t want them, the government was determined to move the refugees out of the former army bunkers where they have previously been housed. Most of them were sleeping 12 to a room and living at altitudes of more than 6,000 feet, many miles from a local town with nowhere to go and nothing to do except manual labor. Since it can take a while for their cases to be heard, the hope was that if they got the refugees down from the mountains and living amongst locals, they would assimilate better and learn more about the Swiss people and the country that may someday be their permanent home.
But instead of being greeted with a welcoming party, these immigrants were presented with a list of all the places in the town where they were not allowed to go. Schools, playgrounds, sports fields, swimming pools, and certain residential areas are off limits, and a private security firm has been hired to make sure they stay out. Even though some of the refugees are families with young children, many of the locals still worry that crime in Alpnach will increase and their own children will be attacked — some are even installing alarms in their homes and insist on living separately from the newcomers and never getting to know them.
While the vast majority of the town is in an uproar and angry at their government, there are some townsfolk who feel differently. They are more open to change and also recognize these refugees are desperate and coming from war-torn countries in complete crisis. They are looking beyond race, religion and a different language and see them as merely human beings who are trying for a chance at a new life.
What is happening in Alpnach is no different than what is going on now in every other country. The Swiss are no less welcoming than other people. In fact, their government has traditionally been more generous and more open to refugees than any other country in Europe. But the issue goes beyond quotas and money expended. It’s not just allowing them to come in and giving them a bed. What it really comes down to is whether or not a “foreigner” will be welcomed with open arms … and an open heart.
Copyright © 2013 (Michelle Parsons, Getting Back on Your Path). All Rights Reserved.
