Photo Gallery Two Years in a German Teen Refugee Home
For two years, DER SPIEGEL followed the lives of a group of Afghan teenagers seeking asylum in Germany. For much of that time they lived in a house in Düsseldorf, pictured here, with the asylum-seekers on the bench in front of the house. At the door and the window, are the counselors, caretakers and leaders at the NGO SOS Kinderdörfer Düsseldorf.
One of the youths, Masoom, works on the house's terrace. The teenagers got off to a promising start, participating, for example, in initiatives to remove trash from the neighborhood. Some members of the group were studious, while others struggled.
Shoes belonging to the teenagers in the house in Düsseldorf. Some neighbors were concerned that the group would be an unruly addition to the neighborhood, which is in a trendy area of the city, and adjacent to a forest.
Saba Sameeian, one of the counselors working with the teenagers. Sameeian comes from a Persian family and speaks Farsi and Pashtu, like the boys. He is the NGO's most experienced counselor, but even so, he sometimes struggled to keep them motivated and disciplined.
Smartphones in the home. Unaccompanied minors receive more help than other asylum-seekers, and the government grants them special protection. The house was provided by Jörg Haas, a business owner who lives next door and turned the property over to the NGO for nominal rent.
Karim working in a bakery. In the two years DER SPIEGEL spent following the teenagers, a lot of things changed. They have received the results of their applications for asylum, some are undertaking studies and have learned new skills, while others have struggled to adapt to Germany.
The house in Düsseldorf that housed the teenagers. Some neighbors dropped off food for the refugees, while others complained that they made too much noise and trash, and that their yard was unruly.
