A food bank in Germany has received huge backlash for turning down requests for services from foreigners.
Located in the western part of Essen and popular among charity-seekers, the company said it reached a decision to stop serving more foreigners, who make up a growing percentage of its users, because young foreign men often scare away women and elderly people.
The company announced in January that it will only register new users if they prove they’ve got German citizenship.
Other food banks, migrant groups and local politicians said it was wrong to exclude people who need charity.
However, the chairman of Essen’s integration council, Miguel Martin Gonzalez Kliefken, says the decision plays into the hands of far-right groups, some of which have hailed the move.
Kliefken told a reporter from n-tv on Friday that the food bank’s decision to reject troublemakers rather than punish people based on their nationality would be the right thing to do.
