UNHCR Germany Director Under Fire for Racist Statements

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Germany Director Gudrun Brindel Fisher has sparked outrage after releasing a controversial statement, calling for unequal treatment and preferential treatment of Ukrainian refugees compared to other refugees.

In a press statement issued on April 19, Gudrun Brindel Fisher said that “Ukrainian refugees should not be told how a washing machine works, or that cooking is not allowed on the floor of the room.”

“It would be more important to ensure their quick and coordinated access to language courses,” She further said.

The Bavarian Refugee Council and the SPD condemned the statement and called for Gudrun Brendel-Fischer’s resignation.

The Refugee Council spokesman Stephan Dünnwald has said that Brendel-Fischer is no longer acceptable after this statement for “politically determining unequal recognition of reasons to flee to cultural or civilisational differences”.

Brendel-Fischer’s statement was followed by the evictions of dozens of Afghan refugees from Germany, to be later replaced by Ukrainian refugees.

Therefore, we call on German authorities to open an investigation into these racist statements and to fire Gudrun Brendel-Fischer from office.