The Breaking Point?Germany's Asylum System Struggles to Cope

[cronus]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/eur ... 52546.html

The Breaking Point? Germany's Asylum System Struggles to Cope

The images were almost surreal. There were people who had just completed a brutally difficult journey, exhausted, but happy. And there was the crowd, lined up on both sides, cheering and clapping as though they themselves had made the trip.

Such scenes have played out across Germany in recent days, and they are more than a little reminiscent of the finish lines at marathons in Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin and elsewhere. The mood was almost festive, euphoric. One could almost forget that the refugees arriving at train stations around the country were not running against the clock. They were running for their lives. The expressions on some faces made it clear that they hadn't yet been able to completely grasp what was happening to them.
The scenes, which included dozens of people holding up signs reading "Refugees Welcome," were quite remarkable. The Germans -- not all, but enough that they are now seen as being "the Germans" everywhere else in the world -- were celebrating the Syrians, the Eritreans, the Iraqis and the Afghans who had made it to their country. And they were celebrating themselves.

It is as though the Germans are standing up and saying: "We are not who you have long thought we were." We are not closed hegemons. We are open-hearted. It was half-truth and half-staged, but it was appealing enough that one could bask in the feeling without pangs of guilt. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel, the perennial skeptic, was moved.

But what will happen if the influx of refugees doesn't abate? What will be left when the initial euphoria wears off and everyday life returns? How will Germans react when the celebratory images of this week are replaced with the reality of housing tens of thousands of newcomers?

(continued, only been four days - not even a week and already solution talk in the air, and they should think about all those Mosques built for free....?)

[Hermit]

...already solution talk in the air...

Presumably you have read the article you quote from, so you could cite all the references to "solution talk" it contains.

I have read it, and if there are any, I inexplicable missed seeing a single one of them. The entire article is about the logistic problems the sudden influx of refugees has created. For example:

The government ministries and teachers are facing a unique challenge: They have to absorb thousands of refugee children within a matter of days whom they hadn't even known about before departing for summer vacation.

They must now teach them German and slowly integrate them into normal classrooms. They also have to be incorporated into meal planning as well as the day-care and recreational offerings of all-day schools. At the same time, they have to help these children overcome the horrors they have escaped in their home country.

There is only one instance in that article that even hints at resistance to accepting refugees. It concerns the governor of Bavaria, who is a member of the CSU, a party on the very right wing of the spectrum of of Germany's conservatives. Bavaria is a special case in Germany, traditionally regarded as a nation within a nation and the missing link between Austrians (the birthplace of a notorious dictator) and humans.

Of course there are and there will be protests against the influx of refugees, but the protesters consist of the moronic and lunatic fringe much akin to your English Defence League of which you and Mistermack seem to be members.

[mistermack]

I can't quote the poll, but the BBC News last night mentioned the latest opinion poll in Germany as finding two thirds saying that the government was handling the refugee problem badly.

Maybe they think Merkel should be taking in more?

It's early days yet.

Edit: Having said that, I googled for German polls, and some seem to indicate that they still support the open doors. Good luck to them. How many ISIS fighters are going to get in that way? It could have "explosive" repercussions.

[Hermit]

I can't quote the poll, but the BBC News last night mentioned the latest opinion poll in Germany as finding two thirds saying that the government was handling the refugee problem badly.

Maybe they think Merkel should be taking in more?

It's early days yet.

Edit: Having said that, I googled for German polls, and some seem to indicate that they still support the open doors. Good luck to them. How many ISIS fighters are going to get in that way? It could have "explosive" repercussions.

Merkel's popularity was lower in 2012 than it is today.

And yes, criticism of the way she manages the refugee problem does not mean the Germans basically want to stick them into ovens. In fact, two thirds of them approve the current inflow or want to see it increased.

Despite the influx, 37 percent of those surveyed were in favor of Germany continuing to take a similar number in the future, while 22 percent believed their country should accept more. Some 33 percent wanted fewer refugees.

Linkiepoo

[cronus]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

[Hermit]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

Do you mean Germans lie systematically to questions asked in polls?

[cronus]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

Do you mean Germans lie systematically to questions asked in polls?

More organised than most nations - hence their lies are more organised. You need to read their subtext and fully know the German character. It ain't easy. You'd have thought they lost WW2?

[Hermit]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

Do you mean Germans lie systematically to questions asked in polls?

More organised than most nations - hence their lies are more organised. You need to read their subtext and fully know the German character. It ain't easy. You'd have thought they lost WW2?

One would be more likely to swallow the dihydrogen monoxide conspiracy than the one you propose. At least the former only involves a combination of ignorance and gullibility. To accept the latter one would have to be batshit crazy. I like to think there are far more ignorant and gullible people on earth than your kind.

[cronus]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

Do you mean Germans lie systematically to questions asked in polls?

More organised than most nations - hence their lies are more organised. You need to read their subtext and fully know the German character. It ain't easy. You'd have thought they lost WW2?

One would be more likely to swallow the dihydrogen monoxide conspiracy than the one you propose. At least the former only involves a combination of ignorance and gullibility. To accept the latter one would have to be batshit crazy. I like to think there are far more ignorant and gullible people on earth than your kind.

You've never studied history in detail I take it?

[Rum]

Says the serious thinker and much admired academic.

[JimC]

Hermit wrote:

Bavaria is a special case in Germany, traditionally regarded as a nation within a nation and the missing link between Austrians (the birthplace of a notorious dictator) and humans.

[Hermit]

Germans are crafty. They won't say anything until they've got enough refugees to have a excuse for action.

Do you mean Germans lie systematically to questions asked in polls?

More organised than most nations - hence their lies are more organised. You need to read their subtext and fully know the German character. It ain't easy. You'd have thought they lost WW2?

One would be more likely to swallow the dihydrogen monoxide conspiracy than the one you propose. At least the former only involves a combination of ignorance and gullibility. To accept the latter one would have to be batshit crazy. I like to think there are far more ignorant and gullible people on earth than your kind.

You've never studied history in detail I take it?

In addition to three years at Sydney University?

Yes.

[cronus]

Books might be upside down?

[Hermit]

Books might be upside down?

Yes, they are, but what looks like the right way up where you live is definitely not down here.