The EU is currently facing a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing the Middle East and African countries and entering the European continent through various routes.
Germany is currently facing a difficult task: to host and place 800,000 people within its borders, which is not only a daunting logistical problem, but also a security challenge. Refugee reception facilities are usually protected by private security firms, many of which are overwhelmed and not prepared for the challenging task, Die Welt wrote.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the market is being flooded by dubious security providers, interested in the lucrative contracts and using the refugee crisis as a chance for the big money.
"The protection of a facility in which so many people of different nationalities and cultures live in a small space, makes high demands of the employees," Ernst Steuger, managing director of a Nuremberg’s security company said, cited by the newspaper.
However, the guards working in migrant camps usually undergo only a one-week training program with a subsequent, easy test at the end.
Steueger suggests that the employed security workers should undergo a three-year public special education program to become a specialist in the field of safety and security. They also should conduct legal and psychological training to work in refugee facilities and be prepared for intercultural aspects of their work.
