She tries not to get too emotionally involved with the patients, says Tatjana Malinin. "Otherwise I wouldn't be able to work anymore." The doctor sits at her desk in a large, bright room, behind her a cupboard full of medicines. The view from the window goes to former barracks buildings, in which asylum seekers are now housed. Malinin works in the initial reception centre in Neumünster, Schleswig-Holstein. She examines newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers – and repeatedly encounters Ukrainian compatriots.
She says, "Everyone is grateful." Some of the people had never seen a doctor before. The work is also medically very interesting. Where else do you have so many extraordinary cases as a doctor, such as diseases that otherwise hardly occur in Germany. Where else do you learn so much. For example, about the languages and cultures of the people and their stories. However, these are often sad.
On this day, a family from Afghanistan takes a seat opposite Malinin, mother, father and an adult son. The doctor measures blood pressure and temperature, asks about chronic diseases. The father has none, mother and son do, including diabetes, and the blood pressure is also high. "Did you take your medication while fleeing?" asks Malinin.
In Italy, the food was bad
The family arrived in Germany the evening before. Previously, the three had lived in Italy for more than a year as recognized refugees. Life there was bad, says the man, hardly any medical care, and poor food. However, the family may not be able to stay in Germany. Even if the rules are often not applied, according to the Dublin Agreement, the EU country whose soil they first set foot on is responsible for asylum seekers.
Tatjana Malinin knows this too. "The chances of staying may not be good," she says. "But medically they are treated well." Technically, of course, it makes no difference to her whether she treats people from Ukraine or from other countries. In the nineties, Balkan refugees were accommodated in the initial reception centre in Neumünster, and in 2015/2016 many people came from the Arab world. Now there are Ukrainian refugees, even if they are usually quickly redistributed, and again many people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan.
Many asylum seekers come with complaints, some with injuries and traumas. During the initial examination, newly arrived asylum seekers receive a medical consultation, initial vaccinations and an appointment for X-rays to rule out tuberculosis. Often people didn't say much at the first meeting, Malinin says. "I don't even ask about mental problems. I know from experience that they don't give an honest answer anyway." It was only at further meetings that people opened up. Some have to ask them not to burden the doctor with their problems, others come again and again for no reason, says Malinin.