"The ship for the crossing to Germany is spacious and has a pool and a cinema," is one of the 'seven lies' about Germany presented on the site.
ADVERTISEMENTThe German government laid out the seven most common mistruths told about the country as part of its reconnaissance work to educate migrants, not to deter them.
On their website rumoursaboutgermany.com an article titled “7 big lies of traffickers” aimed to clear up falsehoods, often selling a glamorous new life in the country, for any migrants thinking about moving to Germany.
The foreign office wanted to provide targeted information in regions where smugglers spread misinformation about the reception of refugees in Germany.
According to the site, the seven top lies were as follows:
“The ship for the crossing to Germany is spacious and has a pool and a cinema.”
“Germany has reserved 800,000 slots for Afghan refugees alone.”
“We have 25 years of experience, and your transport to Europe is 100 percent legal and achievable.”
“Large German companies always need new workers, so Germany takes on 5,000 new refugees a day.”
“Every refugee receives a welcome payment of 2,000 euros.”
“Germany grants a house to every refugee.”
“…and if you don’t like it in Germany, they’ll just give you a visa for Canada.”
The seven lies were accompanied by facts about German administration and employment as well as pictures showing the stark reality of many migrant boat crossings.
The article’s authour said: “We want to enlighten, not deter. That’s why we are giving objective information about these false promises.”
#RumoursAboutGermany is part of an ongoing campaign which started in 2015.
Das
AuswaertigesAmt</a> setzt mit seiner Aufklärungskampagne <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fakten?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Fakten</a> gegen <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Schleuser?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Schleuser</a>-<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fakenews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Fakenews</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rumoursaboutgermany?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rumoursaboutgermany</a><a href="https://t.co/sKt0BIcDV0">https://t.co/sKt0BIcDV0</a> <a href="https://t.co/FGK7F3BjIf">pic.twitter.com/FGK7F3BjIf</a></p>— Bundespolizei B (bpol_b) October 24, 2017
It targets Afghanistan, Pakistan, North and West Africa, aiming to clarify the situation in Germany, using large-scale placards, bus advertising, blogs, TV and radio broadcasts.
The website rumoursaboutgermany.info gathers together the campaign’s activities online.