Helmut Markwort’s diary – It’s high time the government took care of the refugee problem

Monday: FOCUS turns 30

Anniversary. This magazine FOCUS is thirty years old. I talk to my publisher Hubert Burda for a long time. We add the two years of preparation to that. A thousand memories are awakened. Against resistance from without and from within, we succeeded. I like a sentence by Hubert Burda: “Despite everything, there was never a bad word between us.”

Tuesday: The absurd mask requirement in long-distance traffic

The current situation for train drivers is absurd and absurd. Today a person in Munich gets on the train to go to Berlin. In the best-case scenario, the “Sprinter” takes him four hours and 14 minutes. During this time he has to cover his mouth and nose, so he has to wear a mask. He has to endure this harassment even though he knows it is no longer medically necessary. The train to Berlin and all other trains that run through Germany are full of people who are forced and sullen to wear a mask, even though they know it is no longer necessary.

All travelers know it, the inspectors on the train know it, and the federal government knows it too. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and his experts have found that masks are no longer necessary on the train. What applies to the plane from Munich to Hamburg should also be the rule on the rail route on the same route.

That’s good news, but annoying for anyone who has to take the train these days. Lauterbach
has announced that the mask requirement on long-distance trains will continue to apply until February 1st, a Wednesday. This extension of a coercive measure shows how negligently top politicians interfere with our freedom. The government could have deleted the corresponding passage from the Infection Protection Act with immediate effect by ordinance. Bureaucratic minutiae may be the reason that unnecessary conflicts arise when traveling by train. I wish the controllers of coercion a generous attitude.

Wednesday: Government has to take care of the refugee problems in the communities

Up in Berlin the problem is being pushed aside, but down below the mayors are desperate. Every day, the district administrators send them buses full of refugees to the communities. There are around 50 people on each bus, hardly anyone of whom can speak a word of German. Many come from the Ukraine, but the majority also come from Africa. The communities no longer know where to accommodate the refugees. At the same time, more and more fellow citizens who have previously volunteered are getting out. They feel at the end of their strength and they can’t stand the many conflicts. Asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria and Nigeria complain about preferential treatment for Ukrainians.

The asylum workers were useful because they assisted in filling out forms, visiting the doctor and going to the authorities. Anger is growing among the population because more and more gyms are being occupied by refugees. The victims are the students whose physical education classes are canceled and the sports clubs who cannot train. It’s high time the government took action.

FOCUS founding editor-in-chief Helmut Markwort has been an FDP member of the Bavarian state parliament since 2018.