European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 23, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 so Dave do Apo two boys sues 11 and is who arrived Al Frankfurt Airport on a flight from Turkey Wail while Vest German customs officers determine heir status. S&5 Oava Ovidio thurmus Linimum n Desalin am a tamil by slurs As he discusses life in West Ger Many As a political refugee who lied from the Slaughter in sri Sunku. Refugees flock to Ellis Island of 80s Frankfurt Airport becoming port of the desperate  writer Frankfurt. West Germany behind the Glitz of harrods and other upscale shops Al Frankfurt International Airport a glitter less tragedy is played out Day after Day. On flights from India sri Lanka Iran and other troubled spots a steady flow of refugees is turning the Airport into the Ellis Island of the 1980s. Nearly 19,000 refugees arrived there last year about a fifth of the total Asylum seekers lured by West Germany s still Liberal policies on refugees. Roland Bachmeir. Spokesman for the West German ministry of the Interior said 8.2 percent of the refugees were recognized by the West German government As political refugees last year. That figure is dropping we be had 6.9 percent recognized since the first of the  he said. Al one time we had figures As High As 13 percent  there arc More than 15 million refugees wandering about the world seeking safety if not Solace said a spokesman for the . Educational. Scientific and cultural organization. Those Are just the ones Enesco tries to care for. We think there Are another 15 million refugees in the world who Are refugees in their own countries the spokesman said. One refugee in 10 arriving at Frankfurt is an unaccompanied child families in War zones such As sri Lanka Iraq or Iran seek to put their children out of harm s Way before the next massacre or before they arc used As Cannon fodder on the battlefields said Klaus Severin chief of the West German Border police unit assigned to the Airport. They scrape together unnecessary dollars and put their children on the plane for Frankfurt usually via India Djibouti in East Africa and  once in Frankfurt children younger than 16 win automatic Asylum. Theoretically the children must also show that they have some financial Means of support. They Don to Bache Cir said. Right now most of the children come from sri Lanka and Lebanon. But we Don t Deport them for humane  less than 10 percent of the children Are released to relatives already in the country or in Western Europe said Terni card Zepp of the Airport s social services office. Zupp s staff of 10 employees and 30 volunteers counsels and takes care of the refugees medical needs As Long As they Are held at the Airport. The Cost is financed by the Catholic and protestant churches. Children coming through Frankfurt Are housed in Homes in the state of i Lessen that arc run by the slate youth administration office. Social workers act As wards for the children and they spend their lives Here As any Parent less German child for which the state has assumed the responsibility for raising Bache Cir said. Bache Cir said adoptions Are rare. Their parents Are still alive he said. Tic sent Ihm to us for safely not 10 lose  adult refugees face a less sure less speedily decided future. After questioning they Are housed for up to two Days Al a dormitory recently built on the Airport grounds before being returned to their country of origin or Given permission to Wail for the courts to decide their cases. Bachmier said the Only people who legally can be turned Back immediately Are those who have been previously expelled. Everyone else is eligible for Asylum for political reasons alone Bachmier said. The process of recognition for political Asylum lasts on the average one year la is possible to drag in out for five cars by appealing through the  most people awaiting decisions on their Lalus Are put up in stale rented hotels pensions and even Camps. They Are nol allowed to work and they Lic off the  Bachmier said. We do thai because ii was found some persons came Only for economic reasons and were perfectly satisfied if they were allowed to work and make Money for a  some Wesl germans oppose foreigners finding Refuge in their country. West German Media reports have said local residents of Small towns feel threatened by foreigners living in hotels and pensions at government expense. Other West germans become angered when they Sec foreigners living off the Dole who fail to meet German standards of cleanliness in their quarters working illegally or getting involved in drug trafficking. The right Wing Republican and Neo nazi in d parties have used the argue Cal of foreigners living off our lax Money o Garner Voles in Berlin and Hesson. Thai s one West German Side of the Issue. Tharma Lingam narc Salingay knows another Side of it that of being a political refugee. Narc Salingay a tamil who fled from the Slaughter in sri Lanka has been fighting in the courts for full recognition for 12 years. After he was recognized by the Wesl German courts As a political refugee inc Federal ministry of the Interior protested and he s Back in court again he said. In the meantime he s president of the tamil help and information service which aids the estimated 25.000 tamils living in Wesl Germany. Narc Salingay said the refugees biggest problem is psychological. I Don t know whal will happen. I can t study at the University or travel outside of Germany he said. I was allowed to visit my family in India. I wanted logo Back this year when my Mother got ill. But Only one trip Home a year is allowed inc German authorities said. When my fall or died and his ashes were brought to India to be mixed with the Ocean. I was nol allowed to attend. It s psychological torture. We had Hope and believed in inc German Constitution which guarantees Asylum to political refugees. Sometimes i think it would have been belter to have remained in sri Lanka and be dead than to suffer this humiliation in  refugees fear the winds of political change May keep Ihm out of West Germany. In a re cell poll by Allensbach inc oldest polling Institute in Germany 59 percent of surveyed West germans said they wanted stricter measures for recognition of political refugees. Meanwhile inc ruling coalition in Bonn has been working on a Law to redefine Liberal refugee Laws to discourage so called economic refugees from coming to West Germany and for speeding up inc process of gelling rid of them