Bayern Munich are proving to be more humane and hospitable than the entirety of the UK, as the club have announced plans to provide football training camp for refugees, along with donating 1 million euros to refugee projects and providing them with food and German lessons.
Bayern’s offer comes during a time when many are seeking refuge from the violence in Syria and Iraq, with those in need looking for safety in Europe. Germany have welcomed the refugees with open arms, with Bayern following suit with plans of its own. The club’s CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: “Bayern sees it as its social responsibility to help the refugees.”
UK Prime Minister David Cameron previously said that accepting refugees was not a “long-term solution,” but after facing much criticism for his lack of empathy, he then performed a drastic U-turn by later stating that the UK had a “moral responsibility” to look after those in need. His change of heart comes at a time when even the UK’s most bigoted tabloids are swiftly, and insincerely, changing their views on immigration to fall in line with popular opinion.
However, while The Sun may have been running columns from Katie Hopkins informing readers that she doesn’t care about seeing “dead bodies floating in the water” after the image of the drowned three-year-old Syrian child, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach began circulating online, and then informing its readers that it was unacceptable that the UK was refusing refugees entry into the country as if no one would notice, Germany have made a point of showing the world that they’re compassionate by allowing the fleeing citizens of Syria and Iraq to seek refuge in their country.
5-time European champions Bayern are standing alongside their country by supporting those seeking refuge, and will be making a protest during their next home match against Augsburg with their players walking onto the pitch holding the hands of a German child and the hand of a child of a refugee.
