(ANSA) - BERLIN - A controversial list of rules. The goal is to protect children and youth and avoid ''misunderstandings'' when they get in touch with other cultures. The headmaster of a high school in Brandenburg showed students a series of rules of conduct, for the arrival of 100 refugees in an accomodation centre which is located near the school.

His newsletter has sparked row. The female students in Michendorf are asked, for example, not to wear minikirts and not to look into the immigrants' eyes, in order to avoid ''gestures and facial expressions that can be misunderstood''.

They are also expected not to accept cigarettes and soft drinks eventually offered by the refugees, to avoid possible infections. The newsletter addressed to 550 students was enacted at the beginning of June and in recent days it has been published in the Berlin tabloids. Many are critical of this move: the Social Democrats have questioned the initiative, which does not encourage dialogue between different cultures. In an interview with the daily Berliner Zeitung, today, the headmaster said: ''I regret that my statements have been misinterpreted. We want and we must help these people, sometimes in appalling conditions, when they arrive in Brandenburg''.

(ANSA).