MAIL ONLINE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has risked causing further outrage by saying that more immigrants should work for the state.The country has been in the grip of a tense debate about the integration of Muslims for several weeks.
Fuelled by divisive comments about Turks and Arabs by central banker Thilo Sarrazin, Germany has been debating how to balance an economic need for more workers with growing public concern over integration of immigrants.
Merkel spakred controversy earlier this month when she said that multiculturalism had 'utterly failed' in Germany.
Her latest comments are now likely to cause more anger among citizens who feel alienated by the influx of immigrants to the country.
Interviewed by a 31-year-old Berlin policeman of Turkish origin for her latest internet podcast four days ahead of an integration summit at her chancellery, Merkel said: 'Today, people with a migrant background are under- represented in the public sector, and that needs to change.'
However, Merkel conceded that this was not always easy.
'I've also noticed that if someone has a name that doesn't sound German they can often have trouble being taken on at all in some professions,' she said.
Since Sarrazin inflamed opinion by asserting Turks and Arabs sponged off the state and refused to integrate, some of Merkel's conservatives become more critical of Muslims, who make up an estimated 4 million of Germany's 82 million population. >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Saturday, October 30, 2010
