Hundreds of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and other Palestinian groups linked to terrorist activities are among the refugees who have come to West Berlin in the past Few months, according to Interior Ministry officials and police officers here.
The sources, who spoke privately, said that West Germany can do nothing to stop the influx of members of extremist organizations among refugees who ask for political asylum in this country.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of Arabs coming here, both in numbers and in terms of their share of the overall influx of refugees, which had become unmanageable,” an official said. “The Arabs have become the single largest group, and we know that many of them are extremists who intend to pursue their political activities here.”
West Germany has been complaining for some time that East Germany was “planting” the refugees in its territory by guiding them to seek asylum in West Berlin. From there, many of them are sent to other parts of West Germany under a plan to share the burden of integrating the newcomers.
One long-term effect of the latest development, an official predicted, would be the enlargement of a constituency of Arabs who are loyal to the PLO and who will possibly participate in its political and other activities.
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