“They were fleeing the terror of ISIS, the tyranny of the Taliban.”
At Sunday’s Summer Lyceum in Peterborough, Karl Kaiser got personal, sympathetic, and more than a little angry while addressing the audience for his talk, titled, “Refugees in Europe: Overture to a Global Crisis.”
The German native now living in the U.S. where he teaches at Harvard University’s Kennedy School celebrated his birth-nation’s support for refugees while criticizing his adopted country’s.
“Watch what’s happening in Sweden and Germany, it’s a marvel of social engineering,” he said. “They’re changing the countries.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed her country’s willingness to accept refugees this week after violent attacks throughout Europe in the past year caused some people to question it.
“Europe has a terrorism crisis that’s unrelated to refugees,” Kaiser said. “Most of [the attackers] are homegrown.”
Though he avoided making an explicit comment on the upcoming presidential election – he refused to mention candidates by name – he tied much of his talk to current political subjects.
When asked about what American people like the members of the Peterborough audience could do, he answered, “Only public discourse and a decision in the voting booth.”
Kaiser said that 91 percent of refugees relocated to less wealthy countries like Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan, the countries that can afford it least. In 2014, he said, 1.3 million migrants came into the U.S. but only 70,000 were granted refugee status.
What that would mean is that communities are forced to help them.
“Imagine Peterborough, 5,000 people (sic), you’d get today four buses with 400 people,” he instructed the audience. “Take care of them, feed them, house them, take care of their medical needs.”
He hopes for “fundamental revision” of refugee policy, especially in the U.S., which he said needs to be a leader in caring for people from all around the world. He is disappointed that it has not yet.
“We cannot afford this as a country, as Americans, that is not who we are,” he said. “That’s not what liberated me from naziism.”
This week’s Lyceum will cover green business strategies.