“ZDF Magazin Royale”: Böhmermann has “become rich with refugees”

there were Satire allowed – this has been debated ever since Satire giving What Satire Must be clearer: explain, expose, put your finger in the wound, expose and attack with humor. All this creates Jan Böhmermann Friday night in the “ZDF Magazine Royale” as he deals with the business of housing refugees. Unfortunately, he does not succeed in one thing. Because sometimes he has to Satire difference too.

The events of the past week, particularly the expected but surprising end of the coalition government in terms of timing and manner, were discussed in the latest issue of “ZDF It seems that “Magazine Royale” caught the editorial team coldly, or at least warmly.

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So now the editorial team had a week to store enough Christian Lindner jokes, but they also left it this Friday afternoon. Jan Böhmermann and his team, the good times go almost completely unused. “Welcome to week two with no indoor majority Bundestag“, Böhmermann greets the audience and then just mentions that the upcoming federal election will be held on February 23, his birthday. A very rare result for good times .At least for now.

With mortgage in the evening

At the same time, “ZDF Magazin Royale” is not a daily satirical show, even less as it moved from ZDFneo to ZDF’s main program. Instead, the heart of the show is always an absent or ongoing theme and that’s how it is on Friday afternoon. “After last week, we have chosen a non-political topic for you today in ‘ZDF Magazin Royale’: refugee accommodation,” Böhmermann will look at what he and the editorial team have preparation and indeed he means this phrase ironically.

The subject of “refugee accommodation” is not at all benign. For some, discomfort or outright racism appears here, others initially see practical problems because they are involved in helping, for example, and still others throw their hands up above their heads as to how you can police accommodation for people in need. No, there is nothing apolitical here, so Böhmermann enters tonight with a topical focus.

Why did you choose this topic anyway? “Attacks on refugees and shelters inside Deutschland increased significantly in 2023 compared to the previous year […]”, said Böhmermann “Tagesschau” and then the “taz”: “The AfD is fighting against the accommodation of refugees in Hohenschönhausen. ” This is pathetic, but unfortunately not surprising. Böhmermann’s next statement is more surprising: “Right-wing extremists are especially fighting against refugees. And the others, the noble democratic parties, are participating.”

The difference is missing

To support this thesis, Böhmermann cites representatives from various parties, such as the Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeserwhen she spoke after the migration summit that the numbers had to drop even further. “There is no theoretical thinking behind this but ‘strangers out there’,” said Böhmermann. Cem Özdemir It is reported that the “third country model” should not be “understudied” and Böhmermann comments on this with “In every democratic party: foreigners out!”

Now a satirical presentation, of course, can make it simpler, otherwise you lose yourself first and then the message. At the same time, this message must not be based on non-difference so it makes a difference in what motivation and how Faeser and Özdemir make such statements. Is it about law enforcement, about political implementation or about populism and inciting resentment? However, Böhmermann does not differentiate here, but places these two quotes in a series of other statements such as those from Friedrich Merz or Sahra Wagenknecht.

Merz, who has previously attracted unpleasant attention with chauvinistic statements such as “Paschas” or “social tourism”, is said to have said that “for every five sent away, 100 new ones arrive ” and Sahra Wagenknecht says: “Everyone knows that whoever allows uncontrolled migration will receive uncontrolled violence.” Even if Böhmermann does not distinguish between the statements of Faeser and Özdemir on the one hand and those of Merz and Wagenknecht on the other, he at least reveals Wagenknecht’s rhetorical subtlety: “Everyone knows that sentences which start with ‘everyone knows’, are a brilliant rhetorical trick so you don’t have to prove the manufactured nonsense that comes after ‘everyone knows’.”

“The incentive is to get rich with refugees”

“All parties concerned and the FDP agree: “Foreigners out” is a nice swipe at the FDP, but unfortunately it’s also an undifferentiated summary of the values ​​with a far-right slogan adding a second burden to the issue, after all, this is all “They really want to take care of refugees,” Böhmermann explained and says “mdr.de”: “Many people think that homes refuges run by the state or by cities. with permanent staff and volunteers looking after the refugees. But that is not true. Refugee homes are a million dollar business.”

“Cities and states often commission non-profit aid organizations to look after refugees,” says Böhmermann, explaining that the shelters in 13 federal states are also run by private companies. . This is “completely normal at first”, but Böhmermann goes against the tender criteria: “[…] Often the lowest bidder wins the contract […]”, Böhmermann mentions “wdr.de” and here private companies are often cheaper than aid organizations, “because they tend to save on wages or staff or on the care provided ‘ offered.” That has consequences.

“The motivation is to get rich with refugees. The refugee is not even seen as a person,” says Böhmermann, a former employee of one of these private companies, ORS. Böhmermann supports the statements with a report about a refugee who died in ORS accommodation in Berlin, but was only found after four weeks. This is followed by statements of “serious defects” and associated denials. Above all, Böhmermann presents the results of his own research.

“Extremely high” margin for refugee accommodation

According to this research, ORS’ parent company, the British serco group, operates one in five collective accommodation for refugees in Germany. “What kind of company is it? billion pounds worldwide – as a service provider for the Military, space, border guards – as operators of prisons and refugee accommodation.”

Böhmermann explains that they investigated serco together with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and “Monitor” and shows a few selected margins for ORS accommodation. “The British company serco makes a gross margin of up to 50 percent with some ORS refugee accommodation in Germany,” says Böhmermann, summarizing the figures, which, according to an economist, “very high”. Böhmermann has to leave with this assessment, so he only moves on a moral level;

This is completely normal for satirical shows like “ZDF Magazin Royale”, because it is mainly about morality and ethics, about “watching your fingers” and of course about a satirical package. Böhmermann can always shine especially when he packs the bad news with a joke: “Refugees. They are currently even more infamous in Germany than they like. Christian Lindner with Olaf Scholz. “But compared to Christian Lindner, it’s not their own fault,” says Böhmermann, who says that “good times for satire” are useful.

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