'Koala bears and kangaroos ... [and] torture islands': Australia is an icon of the far-right in Europe's refugee crisis

By Eryk Bagshaw
December 4 2016 - 12:15am
Yazidi refugee Renda Barakat, 11, with Majid Dhalriaiyam, 17, from Afghanistan outside a snow-covered refugee shelter in Germany.  Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Yazidi refugee Renda Barakat, 11, with Majid Dhalriaiyam, 17, from Afghanistan outside a snow-covered refugee shelter in Germany. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Protestors on the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.  Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Protestors on the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, the disused airport of Nazi Germany, where more than 1000 refugees are being housed.  Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, the disused airport of Nazi Germany, where more than 1000 refugees are being housed. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Mhadeya is establishing a start-up in Hamburg to encourage older Germans to rent out their empty properties to refugees. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Mhadeya is establishing a start-up in Hamburg to encourage older Germans to rent out their empty properties to refugees. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
The detention centre on Manus Island.  Photo: Andrew Meares
The detention centre on Manus Island. Photo: Andrew Meares
Isobel Hardtie runs refugee programs with Syrian refugee Hamdi Al Kassar, a TV presenter who fled Syria last year. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Isobel Hardtie runs refugee programs with Syrian refugee Hamdi Al Kassar, a TV presenter who fled Syria last year. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Frank Kuhne, editor at Germany's largest children's book publishers Carlsen.  Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Frank Kuhne, editor at Germany's largest children's book publishers Carlsen. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Australia's Ambassador to Germany, Lynette Wood.  Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Australia's Ambassador to Germany, Lynette Wood. Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Refugees Basel Mutlark, 31, from Syria and Faraidoon Wasal  from Aghanistan a former NATO interpreter, both are training to be wind farm technicians in Germany Photo: Eryk Bagshaw
Refugees Basel Mutlark, 31, from Syria and Faraidoon Wasal from Aghanistan a former NATO interpreter, both are training to be wind farm technicians in Germany Photo: Eryk Bagshaw

Andreas Tolke, a German architecture guru, offered up his Armani couch. The city of Hamburg opened its schools, and Berlin turned department stores into shelters for thousands of families.