Germany Ready to Give Greece Financial Aid to Tackle Refugee Crisis

THE GUARDIAN: Berlin acknowledges Greek economy too weak to cope with influx and is willing to give support in return for more robust border controls

Germany is willing to give Greece financial backing to deal with the unprecedented refugee crisis on its own soil instead of exporting it north towards central Europe.

With thousands of refugees pouring into Greece every day and the economy still sputtering, officials in Berlin indicated that Germany would come up with support for Athens in return for a more robust effort to control its borders in the Aegean Sea.

Stressing that there was no connection between any support linked to refugees and the bailout deal agreed this year, as had been suggested in German media, the government admitted Greece’s economy was too delicate for it to be able to deal with the crisis on its own.

“We want to support Greece in this, so that it is able to meet its duties as a member of the EU to protect its borders in the most effective way,” the government spokesman Steffen Seibert told journalists in Berlin. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin and Helena Smith in Athens | Friday, October 16, 2015

Refugee Crisis: Germany Creaks Under Strain Of Open Door Policy

THE GUARDIAN: After the initial euphoria, Germany now faces daily clashes in refugee centres, a rising far-right, a backlog of registrations, and dissent among the ranks of Angela Merkel’s government


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Merkel responded to the refugee crisis with the declaration: “Wir schaffen es – We can do it” – the euphoric mood has been replaced by a more sombre response with the realisation that the newcomers are here to stay, with all the consequences that entails.

School authorities are calling for at least 25,000 new teaching recruits to cope with the large numbers of new pupils, police officers are being brought out of retirement in their thousands, and the nation is being scoured for suitable accommodation as winter approaches.

“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.”

Arson attacks on refugee shelters continue on an almost daily basis. Reports of refugees being greeted at the doors of their new homes by neo-Nazis humming Third Reich songs or being pelted with banana skins are not uncommon. There are mounting concerns that elements of the far-right have found new oxygen in the crisis by tapping into ordinary people’s fears that Europe’s largest economy may be unable to cope with the decision to allow so many to take refuge within its borders. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Thursday, October 8, 2015

Poland Doesn't Want Refugees Because They're Muslims - Polish Film Director

France: Hollande Warns of "Total War" If Syrian Crisis Is Not Ended

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held a joint speech in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Wednesday, where they addressed the ongoing refugee crisis and the Syrian conflict.

Asylum Shelters in Germany Struggle with Violence

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: There has been a rising number of violent incidents in German refugee hostels in recent weeks and concern is growing among officials. But some communities are finding creative ways to make life more tolerable in the asylum homes.

Two men are waiting for their lunch inside a drafty airport hangar -- one is an 80-year-old from Pakistan, the other an 18-year-old Albanian. A throng of people are waiting and the line can take up to an hour, but the young man has run out of patience. He climbs over the barrier and pushes forward, gets his food and then sits down at a table. A short time later, the elderly man addresses him angrily.

A dispute that began banally enough on Sunday, Sept. 27, ended in a mass brawl after the young Albanian hit the old man in the face. A security guard intervened and was able to pull the two apart, but three hours later, 50 to 60 Pakistanis stormed into the hangar and threatened the young Albanian with aluminum rods they had taken from their cots. The police moved in and were initially able to restore peace. Come dinner time, though, 300 angry Albanians had turned up. Some attacked the Pakistanis, benches were thrown, men struck each other with clubs and used pepper spray.

Police estimate that more than 350 of the 1,500 refugees staying in the emergency shelter at the Calden Airport near the city of Kassel became involved in the fight. The incident resulted in 14 injuries, including police officers. Two weeks prior, another altercation at Calden left 60 people injured. Read on and comment » | Matthias Bartsch, Markus Deggerich, Horand Knaup, Ann-Katrin Müller, Conny Neumann, Barbara Schmid, Fidelius Schmid, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt and Steffen Winter | Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Looming Doubts : Merkel's Grip on Refugee Crisis May Be Slipping

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The flow of refugees into Germany is continuing and the government in Berlin has found no way to slow it. Faith in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ability to handle the problem is plunging -- especially within her own party. By SPIEGEL Staff

Sometimes, distance is good for perspective. For Angela Merkel, that perspective came in New York.

The week before last, the German chancellor flew to the Big Apple to address the United Nations summit on sustainability, women's rights and climate change. But what she took home with her was the surprising realization that Horst Seehofer actually has a lot in common with Ahmet Davutoglu and Nawaz Sharif.

Seehofer is the governor of Bavaria and the head of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU); Davutoglu is the prime minister of Turkey; Sharif the prime minister of Pakistan. All three have recently conveyed the same message: Merkel must get tougher in the refugee crisis.

Davutoglu asked Merkel in New York for her support for a buffer zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, where anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 refugees from the civil-war torn country are to be accommodated. Sharif, for his part, engaged the chancellor about the escalating situation in his country and in neighboring Afghanistan. He demanded that the chancellor send Pakistani refugees back home. Read on and comment » | SPIEGEL Staff | Tuesday, October 6, 2015

German Anti-Islam Group Vents Fury at Merkel over Refugee Welcome

YAHOO! NEWS: Dresden (Germany) (AFP) - Thousands of German anti-Islam protesters on Monday vented their fury at Chancellor Angela Merkel over her welcoming of refugees, accusing her of "high treason" and "crimes against the German people".

With Europe's top economy expecting to take in up to a million people fleeing war and poverty this year, anger has flared among anti-foreigner groups and members of the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement ("Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident").

"Merkel is guilty, commits ethnocide against the German people," read one banner at the rally in Dresden, the historic city in the former communist East where PEGIDA emerged about a year ago and, after a lull, is now looking to swell its ranks.

Waving flags, the agitated crowd cheered on co-founder Lutz Bachmann, 42, who was charged last week with inciting racial hatred by labelling asylum-seekers "animals", "trash" and "filthy rabble".

"It won’t stop with 1.5 or two million" arrivals, he said.

"They will have their wives come, and one, two, three children. It is an impossible task to integrate these people." » | Coralie Febvre | Monday, October 5, 2015

Cost of Migration Crisis Means Nothing to Us, Says Top EU Official

EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris
Avramopoulos during a joint news conference on the current
migration and refugee[s] crisis in Europe, in Brussels

THE TELEGRAPH: Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU official in charge of migration, says political backlash over migration 'means nothing' as he is not elected

The EU’s leaders “do not care about the political cost" of their handling of the migration crisis because they do not have to face election, one of its top officials has admitted.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the commissioner for migration whose controversial plan to relocate 120,000 refugees badly split the EU last week, said national leaders should “stop thinking about” the backlash they face over migration.

The relocation policy is deeply unpopular in eastern Europe, but without the threat of re-election this “means nothing”, Mr Avramopoulos said. The remarks were met with anger by British eurosceptics. » | Matthew Holehouse, Brussels | Monday, September 28, 2015

Profiting Politicians? German Journalist Claims Huge Industry behind EU Refugee Crisis

Germany is often the preferred destination of refugees seeking to settle in Europe. Renowned German journalist Udo Ulfkotte claims politicians are actually profitting from the ever-growing wave of asylum seekers. Ulfkotte is hiding his location - after allegedly receiving death threats. RT's Peter Oliver has more.

Croatia: Over 5,000 Refugees Arrive at Temporary Camp in Opatovac

Over 5,000 refugees poured into a camp near the village of Opatovac, after being moved by authorities overnight from a camp in Tovarnik, Tuesday.

Police Pepper Spray Asylum Seeker Trying to Pull Down Barrier on Slovenian Border

Slovenian police used pepper spray on a man who tried to break through the border fence in Harmica on the Slovenian border. The escalations led to altercations between the police and migrants and refugees. Many in the crowd attempted to calm down the situation, negotiating and mediating tensions.

Germany: Arson Attack Leaves Wertheim Refugee Shelter Uninhabitable

Unknown perpetrators set fire to a sports hall in Wertheim, Sunday, according to local police. The building was set to become a shelter for hundreds of refugees. A local official said that after the fire, the building was dilapidated and no longer usable.

Austria Takes in 15,000 More Migrants as EU's East-West Rift Widens over Solution to Crisis

Thousands more arrivals reach Austrian border after gruelling journey through Balkans

Read the Telegraph article here | Dan Nolan, Tovarnik and AFP | Sunday, September 20, 2015

Slovenia Police Use Pepper Spray On Migrants At Croatia Border

People have been treated for the effects of pepper spray after police clashed with around 500 migrants trying to get into the country from Croatia.

HT: Jihad Watch »

The Death of Germany | European Migrant Crisis

Question: "I’m a German citizen. Is there a solution to the Immigrant crisis in Germany/Europe - or is history repeating itself and we are on the brink of a new European war?"

Refugee Crisis Escalates as Migrants Break through Hungarian Border

THE GUARDIAN: Clashes with police follow moves by desperate refugees to break through a border gate, as others make their way to Croatia

Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the second world war entered a new phase on Wednesday as hundreds of trapped refugees briefly broke through a border gate on the now-blocked Hungarian border, leading to frenzied clashes with Hungarian police, while hundreds of others forged a new route through Croatia.

Hungarian riot police fired teargas and water cannon across the border with Serbia after frustrated crowds, who had gathered there in their thousands when Hungary closed its frontier on Tuesday, tried to burst through a gate that connects the two countries. Hungary’s actions were met with fury by the Serbian government, which said its northern neighbours had no right to fire into Serbian territory. » | Patrick Kingsley in Šid and Horgoš | Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Hungary: Police Deploy Tear Gas and Water Cannon against Refugees at Border

Hungarian police deployed tear gas and water cannon against refugees who broke through a razor wire fence at the Horgos border crossing with Serbia on Wednesday.

Angela Merkel Defends Germany's Handling of Refugee Influx

THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor says she let in unregistered refugees in the face of a humanitarian emergency and insists country’s borders remain open

Angela Merkel has defended her decision to open German borders to unregistered refugees, only to introduce controls on Sunday, saying the impulse was right and had shown Germany’s “friendly, beautiful face” to the world.

Speaking in Berlin after a meeting with her Austrian counterpart, Werner Faymann, Merkel said she had faced a humanitarian emergency two weeks ago, as tens of thousands of exhausted refugees waited to enter the country. She had, exceptionally, agreed to let them in, she said.

The German chancellor rejected claims that her decision had made Europe’s refugee crisis worse by encouraging others to head for Germany. She said that images of volunteers greeting refugees at Munich’s main train station had gone round the world. “If we had not shown a friendly face, that’s not my country,” she said. » | Luke Harding in Berlin | Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Mad Max-style Train Seals Hungary-Serbia Border

An apocalyptic-looking train fitted with razor wire has been deployed to seal the last gap in Hungary’s border with Serbia, amid UN agency warnings that fences and tougher border controls are not a solution to the dire refugee crisis.

Roszke as Police Close Border to Refugees