German President seeks refugee advice from Australia

German president tells Malcolm Turnbull he wants to learn how Australia has dealt with its own refugee problems.

Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, with Malcolm Turnbull in Perth.

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that giving shelter to more than half a million people, mainly from war-torn Syria, has been “a tremendous challenge” for his country and he wants to learn how Australia has dealt with its own refugee debate.

In opening addresses to the Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Perth today, Mr Steinmeier and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull both warned against protectionism and the rise of populist sentiments against free trade.

But Mr Steinmeier also said he wanted to discuss refugees.

“One of the things I hope to do on this trip is to learn from Australia’s experience,” he said.

“I would like to compare notes on the issues confronting both our countries as well as our regions in Europe and the Asia Pacific.”

Mr Steinmeier made his remarks as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described the closed immigration detention centre on Manus Island as an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of men who tried to seek asylum in Australia by boat were sent to the centre under the Federal government’s hard line on the people smuggling trade that sent some 50,000 across the Java Trench from Indonesia to Australia between 2008 and 2013. More than 1000 men, women and children are estimated to have drowned in high seas or when rickety boats sunk.

Since the Manus centre closed on Tuesday and all services including water cut off, they have refused to go to replacement accommodation at Lorengau. Images of men digging for water at the former detention centre have been beamed around the world.

Mr Steinmeier told the conference the mass arrival of refugees in Germany had been challenging for all levels of government and for the community.

“Immigration is a highly contentious topic in my country especially over the past two years — more than half a million refugees mainly from war torn Syria have found safety and protection within our borders since the civil war began.

“Giving shelter to these people has been a tremendous challenge for your country from the Federal government all the way down to local authorities and civil society.

“And the real debate about the rules we need for the future of our migration has only just begun.”

Mr Steinmeier said: “I am looking forward to learning more about the Australian debate especially because I know that it has not always been an easy topic for both our nations”.

“It remains a challenge let me say to reconcile the reality of the world on the one side with the limited possibility of our countries.”

In his speech Mr Steinmeier asked Australia and Germany to resist any temptation to turn away from difficult world events as dictators and authoritarian leaders made threats and refused to engage in dialogue.

He told the story of Ludwig the King of Bavaria, sometimes called the Fairytale King, who retreated to his castle “to withdraw from a hostile world that he simply couldn’t face, but you know as well as I do that isolating ourselves will not solve any problems.”

“Not even Kings can do that,” Mr Steinmeier said.

“He lost touch. Paradise was lost and he perished.

“The message that we should choose a different path. Let us now withdraw from the world let us not give in.”