Refugee crisis: Germany creaks under strain of open door policy - the Guardian

The realities of shouldering Europe’s refugee crisis are coming home to Germany, amid daily reports of clashes in asylum seeker homes; bureaucrats overwhelmed by a backlog of registration claims and deep divisions within chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative ranks over how to manage the enormity of the challenge.

Just weeks after Merkel responded to the refugee crisis with the declaration: “Wir schaffen es – We can do it” – the euphoric mood has been replaced by a more sombre response with the realisation that the newcomers are here to stay, with all the consequences that entails.

“The welcome parties in Munich, Berlin and elsewhere were great,” said the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung in a recent editorial. “They showed a generous and open Germany of which we can be very proud, headed by a chancellor who seemed to surprise herself with her response, (and) tens of thousands of volunteers ... but now we’re in the stark light of day which consists of overcrowded refugee centres and local authorities and police stretched to their limits.”

The chancellor’s popularity ratings have taken an unusual hit, particularly in the former communist east where anti-immigrant sentiment is at its highest. But appearing on a television chat show on Wednesday night, Merkel insisted she would not try to limit the influx. “How should that work?” she asked the presenter. “You cannot just close the borders.”

Earlier in the day she told the European parliament that the EU needed to overhaul its rules on immigration. But concerns are being expressed across the political landscape, with many from the Greens and Social Democrats divided between their party principles – which they have to admit are in line with Merkel’s – and the daily reality of overstretched municipalities. - Read More at the Refugee crisis --  Angela Merkel

Refugee crisis: Germany creaks under strain of open door policy