Lebanese community in Germany fears the worst as threat of war looms

Germany has over 47,000 Lebanese nationals, who are following developments in the Middle East with fear.

Transcript

00:00This has become a daily ritual for Shahed Najee, watching the news from his native Lebanon

00:11as it faces continued strikes from Israel.

00:14Shahed has been living in Berlin for nearly 10 years now, but with family and friends

00:19back in Lebanon, the crisis hits close.

00:23Kind of panicking, waking up in the middle of the night to check the news.

00:28This is the first time that like real bombing starts happening north of Beirut and my family

00:34come from the north, so like I was just on a call with them and they said they're hearing

00:40fighter jets very low.

00:42Shahed's nephew fled from Beirut to the north for safety.

00:46He was already looking to go to school in Germany.

00:50Now the motivation to leave is stronger.

00:53The range of the attack includes so many, so many possibility of you being next if you

00:59are just around the corner.

01:01So you have to leave, you have to give up everything.

01:07After the October 7th attacks in Israel, the German government allowed Israeli visitors

01:11to stay temporarily without applying for a residence permit or an extension.

01:16Euronews asked if such a program would be prepared for Lebanese citizens.

01:20The interior ministry said that such regulations do not exist for Lebanese people.

01:26More than 47,000 Lebanese nationals live in Germany, but others might have a tougher time

01:32coming to the country.

01:34Immigration and refugees have been dominating headlines.

01:38The far-right AFD received the highest vote share in a state election this month, the

01:43first time it achieved such a result.

01:47Afterwards, the government tightened border controls as it toughened its position on migration.

01:53The interior ministry says statistics are not yet available for this month on how many

01:58Lebanese nationals have applied for asylum.

02:01But Shahed says the political atmosphere gives him little hope his family can join him in safety.

02:09I would definitely try to get them to Germany if it's possible, but again, like with the

02:14current policies and what's happening within Germany and the last elections results, I

02:25don't think this is possible unless something drastic changed and Germany or the EU decided

02:31to open asylum for people escaping from the war in Lebanon.