In Letschin, Asylum-Seekers Adapt To A New Life In Germany

LETSCHIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 09: Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity. Vossberg village is located in rural eastern Germany close to the border to Poland, and unlike shelters in southeastern Germany, it has experienced no incidents of right-wing animosity from locals, something an ASB spokesman attributes to strong cooperation between the municipality, schools and citizens' groups and an effective information campaign to educate locals about the newcomers. Germany has been inundated with hundreds of thousands of asylum applicants this year and is struggling to accommodate them. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)