German foodbank revokes controversial ban of foreigners

BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- German charitable organization "Essener Tafel" on Tuesday began to admit non-German citizens to its foodbanks again after a heated public debate with a widely-publicized decision to temporarily ban foreigners from the service.

Joerg Sartor, the president of the organization, told press that the agency revoked its earlier decision and that the changes would take effect from Wednesday.

"Essener Tafel" had justified the move as a response to extremely high demand for its foodbank and a resulting inability to ensure an adequate provision of service to individual users unless their absolute number fell again. Nevertheless, the announcement was heavily-criticized by many German politicians, including by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).

Sartor emphasized that the ban was always intended to be temporary and limited to at most three months. After Sartor accused politicians of hypocrisy for failing to support his organization, the municipal government of Essen agreed to host an emergency roundtable with all parties involved to discuss a change in access regulations which would prioritizes elderly individuals, single-parents, and families with underage children regardless of their nationality.

Jochen Bruehl, the president of the German Federal Association of Foodbanks, described the events in Essen as a warning sign of what was bound to happen "when the government leaves voluntary associations to grapple with problems which they cannot solve on their own."

Bruehl urged Berlin to do more to ensure a permanent reduction in poverty levels in Germany to prevent similar incidents in the future. Enditem