How Syrian refugees helped clean up flooded German towns

Syrian refugee volunteers were part of the cleaning up of German towns that were devastated by last month’s floods that killed at least 180 people.

The Syrian Volunteers in Germany group said hundreds of its volunteers rushed to the worst-affected areas in western Germany after seeing the destruction on social media.

The group collected debris and renovated buildings such as a centuries-old church.

“There are one million Syrians in Germany and we are one with the German population in good and bad times,” said Barakat Oubaid, organiser of the volunteer group.

Most of the volunteers arrived in Germany in 2015, fleeing war and poverty, when the country accepted more than a million refugees and migrants.

“Many houses of the Germans were destroyed, and so is our apartment,” said Mouaiad Abedelbi, a Syrian volunteer who lives in Ahrweiler.

“We feel the same as our neighbours do. We have experienced that feeling already and now, we have to feel it again. But at the end of the day, we are here to help and we work hand-in-hand with the Germans in order to repair everything. No matter what, we are here.”