Originally published under the title "'Germany or Nothing,' Demands Migrant Threatening to Return to Syria if He Gets Settled Elsewhere."
Housam Kbieh, who travelled to Europe with his wife and two sons, thinks it's better back in Syria than in most of Europe. |
A family of Syrian migrants is demanding to be settled in "Germany or nothing," refusing to live in any other European country. They have threatened to go back to Syria if they are not settled in Chancellor Merkel's country, with its handsome state benefits and open-door policy.
Housam Kbieh told Sky News that he fled Damascus with his wife and two sons, but rejected the idea of being settled anywhere outside Germany. "I go back to my country, it's Germany or nothing," he demanded, adding, "I'[ll] go back [to] my country. Of course."
The interview arguably does not sound like the testimony of a refugee desperately seeking a safe haven, but rather of an economic migrant seeking an easy life at the expense of European taxpayers.
The news came as a Liberal Democrat party leader insisted that migrants had never heard of Western benefits systems and were simply looking for a "liberal place" to live. This is despite a recent study that showed one in five Syrians think ISIS is a positive thing.
Comments left under Sky's original story included, "No problem, give them nothing" and "If I can't go to Germany I will go back ... not really running for your life then. More like running towards the great freebie."
The British public appears to be split on the issue, but not without attempts by the mainstream media to influence opinion. A Breitbart London analysis revealed that the BBC is using a disproportionate number of images of children in its migrant crisis coverage, while a plurality of Britons do not believe the United Kingdom should be taking more migrants.
Furthermore, it seems that the German public is not being shown the same images as British people, with allegations being made that the media is colluding to keep the worst images of the migrant crisis away from German citizens.
Raheem Kassam is a fellow at the Middle East Forum and editor-in-chief of Breitbart London.