Illegal clans, Islamist kindergartens and patriarchal structures: Neukolln’s Commissioner for Integration, Guner Balci, warns of a dangerous mixture of crime and religious influence. Above all, the freedom and self-determination of young girls is at risk, while politics and society remain silent.

In Berlin-Neukolln, Guner Balci, the district’s Commissioner for Integration, has condemned conditions that recall an archaic social order: marriage counselling for underage girls, tolerance of second wives, radical kindergartens and patriarchal structures in Germany. As early as the 1980s, patriarchal families permanently altered the district’s cultural fabric. Today, clans, mosques linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist preachers are shaping everyday life. Thus, girls grow up in an environment where there is little room for self-determination and freedom.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, commissioner Ms. Balci reports that the neighbourhood “has never been particularly women-friendly”, adding that “there has always been plenty of violence and misery.”

In the 1980s, large Palestinian families arrived from Lebanon and profoundly changed the cultural structure of the area. According to her observations, they brought with them a strictly patriarchal way of life that takes little account of women’s rights and individual freedom.

Because of the lack of proper opportunities for integration, many young men from these families found no place in German society and sought recognition on the street. Small cliques grew into notorious clans. Those youths became influential figures in organised crime. They claimed the right to interpret virtually everything that happened in the district.

Some imams offer marriage counselling to 14-year-olds and justify polygamy. Kindergartens under Islamic influence may also become ideological hotbeds for a generation growing up alienated from the constitution.

“For a long time we underestimated how big this phenomenon could become,” Ms. Balci was quoted by Report24 as saying. While the constitutional protection authorities clearly classify Salafism as a danger to the democratic order, politicians are accused of inaction and retreat — for fear of being accused of racism.

“Marriage counselling” for minors – politics remains silent

Alongside the spread of clan structures, religious influence has also increased rapidly in the neighbourhood and continues to grow. Where once there were only a few prayer rooms, today some 30 mosques characterise Neukolln’s streets. Not a few of them have radical profiles; some have proven links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

For Ms. Balci, the Commissioner for Integration, this is an alarming sign:

“I know of imams who offer marriage counselling to 14-year-old girls and consider it acceptable for a man to take a second wife.”

Building kindergartens in the name of religion – or a step backwards?

Ms. Balci has also criticised the fact that the operator of a Shiite-reactionary mosque has been granted permission to build a kindergarten:

“The non-profit operator is demonstrably connected to its mosque. Women in black veils emerge from the front – and now they want to build a kindergarten in the back?”

The danger, she warns, is that such kindergartens may become ideological breeding grounds where patriarchal models of upbringing are passed on.

Constitutional protection: Salafism poses a threat to the basic order

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution “sees incompatibility between Salafism and democracy”. Salafists not only openly reject democratic rules, but also demand to determine everyone’s personal way of life down to the smallest detail.

Quotation: “In Salafism there is no room for individual decision-making and self-determination. A Salafist preacher openly expresses this demand: ‘Democracy belongs to the unbelievers and comes from the unbelievers, my dear brothers. […] Politics is part of religion. And everything belongs to religion, my dear brothers. The economy belongs to religion […] Education is part of religion, medicine and health care […], even the cutting or trimming of our hair is part of religion, even relieving ourselves, even eating, drinking and sleeping is part of religion […] this religion is perfect […] and leaves nothing out!’ Even supposedly non-violent Salafism poses a threat to democratic society. Its ideology and practice are incompatible with the liberal democratic order.”

In Germany, 90 per cent of Salafists have a migration background.