Young Palestinian woman who made Merkel cry will stay in Germany

A Palestinian teenager, who made German Chancellor Angela Merkel cry during a televised debate on Wednesday, will be allowed to stay in Germany, officials said, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

In a show from a modern school center in the northern German city of Rostock, where Merkel met with young people up to 17 years of age to discuss EU policy towards refugees, 14-year-old Palestinian Reem Sahwil addressed the Chancellor and told her that her family faces deportation from Germany if authorities deny them asylum.

"It is really difficult to see how others can enjoy life, and you cannot enjoy it with them," Reem said in fluent German, adding that her greatest wish is to study at a German university.

"Politics is sometimes cruel," the German Chancellor replied.

"You are an extremely nice person, but you know that there are thousands upon thousands (of people) in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. If we now say: 'You can all come...' We simply cannot," the Chancellor said.

Reem started crying, and Merkel approached her, patted her on the head and said: "But you did very well," to which the show's host said that Reem did not want to "do very well," but rather to say that her life is difficult.

"I know it's difficult," the Chancellor retorted. "That's why I want to comfort you. We don't want to bring you all into such a situation. It's difficult, and you have also shown others what situation they can find themselves in, haven't you?"

Political commentators attacked Merkel as heartless, condescending, and lacking empathy. Others defended her, saying it is better to be honest and pragmatic than to make false promises.

German Minister for Integration Aydan Ozoguz stated on Friday that he was not aware of the situation of the young girl, but that he sees she speaks fluent German and has clearly lived in the country for several years.

"Precisely because of this, we have changed the law so that well-integrated young people can obtain a new residence permit in accordance with the new integration law that came into force in August 2014," the minister said, as reported by the newspaper Spiegel on its website.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of Rostock told the daily newspaper Tagesspiegel that the city authorities have no intention of deporting Reem and her family.