Visual Representations of Refugees in German Media 2010 - 2020

As an accompaniment to the Frankfurter Allgemine Zeitung article “Karlsruhe: Mehr Geld für Asylbewerber” (Karlsruhe: More money for asylum seekers) published on July 18, 2012, this photo shows three male refugees peeking their heads out of what the viewer can assume is their refugee housing facility. With the vague photo caption not offering further information on the image's setting or subjects, simply the statement that “Die derzeitige Höhe der Geldleistungen für Asylbewerber ist laut Verfassungsgericht 'evident unzureichend'” (The current level of cash benefits for asylum seekers is "clearly insufficient" according to the Constitutional Court), much is left up to the viewer for interpretation. The photo is credited to the dpa. 

 

Only one man appears to be visibly looking at the camera and none of the subjects are described further in the article either by name or by anonymous identity. The article, which is categorized under the Politik (politics) section with the tag Bundesverfassungsgericht (German Constitutional Court), details the federal monthly payments to refugees and the approved increase passed a few days prior from roughly 225€ to 336€ per month per adult refugee. Instead of concentrating on the positive effects this additional monthly income could have for individual refugees, the article focuses on the additional costs for the municipalities that may total up to 130 million euros.

​

The use of a syndicated photograph with no identifying factors in conjunction with this article demonstrates a lack of consideration for the individual refugees and further that the focus of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for this article was too tied up in the economics. 

​