The Syrian Refugee Crisis
With the war in Syria leading to the loss of so many lives and homes, it was only natural that the developed world should take notice. The Syrian refugees would have to be admitted somewhere, would have to be given shelter somehow. For a world that professed the principles of the UN—to act humanely towards one and all—how could the developed world not respond? Those were Angela Merkel’s thoughts in 2015. Truth be told, however, the experiment had been a long time coming. Integration and immigration had been key topics for Germany’s leader as well as for other member states of the EU. Immigration had been one of the key controversial issues that compelled Britons to vote to leave the EU in the shocking Brexit event that occurred in 2016 (Hunt & Wheeler, 2016). For leaders like Merkel, welcoming immigrants (especially those from the war torn Middle East) was an act of charity that symbolized the universal bond that all people shared. For others—particularly for Britons and Germans who did not want to see their national heritages and cultures altered by the influx of a foreign people with foreign customs and traditions—it was an act of self-demolition.
The leaders of the EU eventually picked up on their followers’ oppositional voice and tried to perform balancing acts in order to appease the voters while simultaneously towing the politically correct line that advocated universal kinship, open borders, pro-immigration policies and greater integration. Leaders like Merkel were reluctant to give up the ideals that they had taken to heart, even though it might cost them their positions of leadership. Merkel was being challenged as Chancellor in Germany. In England, Nigel Farage was leading the charge for Brexit and the referendum’s surprise result would lead to the establishment of a new PM—Theresa May—in the UK. It would appear that the line between being hospitable and being self-destructive was becoming clearer and clearer in the minds of many. Yet it was still not so clear in the minds of the leaders in the EU.
Bavarian Premier and Christian Social Union leader Edmund Stoiber attempted to draw a finer line about where tolerance began and where it ended by stating, “Yes to openness and tolerance, no to Islamist head scarves,” in the early half of the 21st century (DW, 2004). Federal President Johannes Rau of the...
References
DW. (2004). Integration debate heats up in Germany. Retrieved from http://www.dw.com/en/integration-debate-heats-up-in-germany/a-1402802
Hunt, A. & Wheeler, B. (2016). Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
Neo, H. (2016). Germany must have frank talk about integration: Merkel. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/germany-must-frank-talk-integration-merkel-161231123.html?ref=gs
Rau, J. (2000). Without fear and without illusions: Living together in Germany. Retrieved from http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/Ch.7,Doc.13FIN.pdf
Shahak, I. (2017). ‘Greater Israel’: The Zionist plan for the Middle East. Retrieved from https://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815
UNHCR. (2016). UNHCR reports crisis in refugee education. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/press/2016/9/57d7d6f34/unhcr-reports-crisis-refugee-education.html
Weaver, M. (2010). Angela Merkl: German multiculturalism has ‘utterly failed’. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/17/angela-merkel-german-multiculturalism-failed
Immigration and Asylum Policy in the EU The formation of the European Union was a feat, unprecedented in modern history. This agreement represented feat of political cooperation never before accomplished in the history of the world. Under this agreement, local governments were able to combine forces and operate on a Regional level. Prior to the formation of the EU, Europe consisted of many different countries and these countries were rich in
Germany Research Project Germany Germany is a prominent country in Europe as it stands as the second most crowded nation and the biggest economy in Europe. Seeing how it has the largest economy, it does alter the links between the prominent nations in the world. German history is filled with social and political movements. Adolf Hitler and the era of Nazism is an unfortunate and prominent part of the History of the
Pastor categorizes the last century (ending in the 1980s) as falling into several categories, with regard to immigration policy, which he also notes is open for debate, as it is usually done in public debates in Congress and between the executive branch and congress. While policy during this period may be categorized in many ways, a Latin American perspective suggests four useful divisions...: Defining Limits, 1875-1921; the Classical Special Relationship,
This doesn't explain why the Irish had such a difficult time, but in America, religious differences are often the cause of intolerance as well. The truth is that without immigrants in the 19th, 20th, and 21st century -- and of course the two hundred years before this, this nation would not be where or what it is today and to remain true to our roots we must accept that
This changed in the 1970s and 80s, when many nations closed their borders to immigrants and Italy became popular as a temporary and permanent stop for many immigrants (Caritas 2002). This created many of the same problems that the United States faces, including a large number of illegal immigrants entering and/or remaining in the country as well as the economic burden of vastly increased numbers of people -- legal and
America.gov. In the Eastern Hemisphere 170,000 immigrants were allowed in; in the Western Hemisphere 120,000 immigrants were welcomed in, Daniels continues. The law did limit the number of immigrants from "any nation" to 20,000 per year. As for "refugees" the law permitted only 6% of the total number of immigrants to be those considered refugees (Daniels reports that the 6% amounted to about 17,400 visas). Between 1966 and 2000 about 22.8
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