"I'm very convinced that it's a problem of communication," Katharina Stamm, a European migration policy expert at the German Protestant charity Diakonie, told DW. "I'm very pleased that Merkel's staying her course at the moment despite all of the criticism. But she should make it even more clear what sort of advantages Germany gets from immigration. For example, we need immigration to keep our pension system afloat. In reality, we should be greeting every immigrant to Germany with a handshake and a bouquet of flowers."
By contrast, Katja Maurer, the spokeswoman for the refugee advocacy organization Medico, believes that Merkel and her government are succumbing to pressure and drifting away from last year's slogan of "we can do this," which had promised that Germany would be able to handle the influx. [...]
"I understand that the political pressure is enormous, but I wish Gabriel would wear his 'refugees welcome' button all the time and not just one day in parliament," Maurer said. "From people who should be capable of resolve, I expect resolve. The people who know that there's no choice but to offer relief not only to the countries in Southern Europe, but also Syria, which is producing more and more refugees, they should explain that to people, instead of concentrating only on their election results. But Mrs. Merkel herself knows all of this. She doesn't need me to tell her that."
No comments:
Post a Comment