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IMMIGRATION

Football club reject Bild’s pro-refugee campaign

FC St. Pauli, Hamburg's second football club have refused to participate in a campaign to help refugees being run by right-wing tabloid Bild.

Published: 16 September 2015 17:30 CEST
Football club reject Bild's pro-refugee campaign
St Pauli is know for its left-wing identity. Photo: DPA

This weekend, all 36 of the clubs in Germany's top two football divisions were supposed to wear the “we're helping” logo that Bild came up with to advertise its campaign with the German Football Association (DFB) to help the tens of thousands of refugees currently flooding into Germany.

But football magazine Kicker reported on Wednesday that one club isn't cooperating – Hamburg's St. Pauli, who play in the second division and are known for their fans' strong left-wing leanings.

The club said in a statement that it would rather show its support for refugees through practical engagement.

“St. Pauli has been working for weeks to help those people who are currently fleeing to Germany. The friendly game we recently played against Borussia Dortmund, the private efforts of our players and initiatives of our fans are proof of that,” read the statement.

“We therefore decided it was not necessary to take part in this voluntary action organized by the German Football Association,” it continued.

Bild editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann accused the club on Twitter of being hostile to refugees.

“No heart for refugees: that's a shame FC St Pauli #refugeesnotwelcome,” he commented.

But Diekmann's comment appeared to backfire as a groundswell of support emerged for St. Pauli on Twitter, with #BILDnotwelcome turning into the top trending hashtag of the day.

Many people questioned the sincerity of the tabloid's campaign and pointed to what they saw as a xenophobic editorial stance at the newspaper.

One commenter wrote “I still don't believe it: #refugeeswelcome from Bild – what next 'give peace a chance' from [weapons manufacturer] Heckler & Koch?”

Meanwhile fans of various other football clubs encouraged them to follow St Pauli's example.

IMMIGRATION

France ‘will not welcome migrants’ from Lampedusa: interior minister

France "will not welcome migrants" from the island, Gérald Darmanin has insisted

Published: 20 September 2023 09:06 CEST
France 'will not welcome migrants' from Lampedusa: interior minister

France will not welcome any migrants coming from Italy’s Lampedusa, interior minister Gérald Darmanin has said after the Mediterranean island saw record numbers of arrivals.

Some 8,500 people arrived on Lampedusa on 199 boats between Monday and Wednesday last week, according to the UN’s International Organisation for
Migration, prompting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to travel there Sunday to announce an emergency action plan.

According to Darmanin, Paris told Italy it was “ready to help them return people to countries with which we have good diplomatic relations”, giving the
example of Ivory Coast and Senegal.

But France “will not welcome migrants” from the island, he said, speaking on French television on Tuesday evening.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called on Italy’s EU partners to share more of the responsibility.

The recent arrivals on Lampedusa equal more than the whole population of the tiny Italian island.

The mass movement has stoked the immigration debate in France, where political parties in the country’s hung parliament are wrangling over a draft law governing new arrivals.

France is expected to face a call from Pope Francis for greater tolerance towards migrants later this week during a high-profile visit to Mediterranean city Marseille, where the pontiff will meet President Emmanuel Macron and celebrate mass before tens of thousands in a stadium.

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