Two years ago, Germany was turned upside down by the biggest movement of refugees since the second world war.
How would it cope? Would Germans, with their famed efficiency, rise to the challenge? And what of those who had finally made it to safety – what future awaited them?
One of the aims of the New Arrivals project has been to try to find answers to these questions, working as a team across newspapers in four different European countries.
Der Spiegel set to work identifying a compelling case study: a family of eight that had settled in northern Germany and in many senses provided a neat microcosm of the challenges and opportunities facing the new arrivals.
With the country facing general elections on 24 September, our Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, teamed up with counterparts at Der Spiegel to visit the family and report their story for the Guardian.
Separately, to mark the two-year anniversary of the moment Angela Merkel urged her compatriots “we can do this”, Andrew Curry has been to investigate a programme tackling one of the biggest problems facing newly arrived refugees: the lack of services to help them face PTSD and other mental traumas.
And in case you missed it, Kate Lyons has spent the summer finding out how to live on £37 a week, the standard stipend for asylum seekers awaiting a verdict in the UK. Often it comes down to excruciating choices: something to eat, or a bus home?
Finally, the tortuous process facing the people in our own case studies. Said Norzai and his son Wali Khan have encountered further delays: their appeal against a decision to refuse them asylum has been adjourned for at least 12 weeks. We will update you further.
All the best.
Mark Rice-Oxley,
Head of special projects,
The Guardian.
.jpg?w=600)
