Backlash grows to Merkel over refugees

By Matthew Karnitschnig

We’ve lost control,” said one influential critic.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing increasing criticism from the right wing of her conservative coalition for her decision to take in thousands of refugees.

“It is completely irresponsible that untold thousands are streaming into the country uncontrolled and without registration,” former interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told the daily Passauer Neue Presse. “There is no way to reliably determine how many of them are Islamic State fighters or Islamic sleepers.”

Friedrich is a senior member of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and is considered an influential voice among conservatives in parliament. He called the government’s action an “unprecedented political blunder,” warning of “devastating” longer-term consequences.
“We’ve lost control,” he said.
Friedrich’s comments were echoed by Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder who said the influx had begun to overburden the state government.
“The decision to open the borders was supposed to be an exception and now it’s looking like the rule,” he told the Münchner Merkur newspaper.
The criticism highlights the coming political challenge Merkel faces on the refugee issue even as many Germans have welcomed the newcomers in recent weeks. Many here worry that the national mood — coined the “September fairytale” by the German press — could shift from one of charity to exasperation once the reality of integrating a massive population of non-German speaking Muslims sets in.
The influx is already straining the local infrastructure in many parts of the country as communities scramble to find housing and schools to meet the refugees basic needs. The German government expects 800,000 refugees this year, but if the current rate of arrival holds, the number would pass the million mark. Every day this week, thousands of refugees arrived at the main entry point in Munich, including more than 7,000 on Thursday alone.
So far, Merkel has shown no sign of backing away from the open door policy.
“The fundamental right to asylum for victims of political oppression has no upper limit,” she said in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper published Friday.
Merkel’s government waived the so-called Dublin rules, an EU law that require refugees to apply for asylum in the first EU country they ender, for Syrians at the end of August. The decision triggered the rush of refugees heading to Germany from Hungary and other parts of southern Europe.
German officials say the step was meant to simplify bureaucratic procedures because the Dublin system had failed to stem the flow of refugees to Germany. Yet they also acknowledge that they didn’t expect the decision to unleash such a massive influx.
Merkel and her aides have repeatedly insisted in recent days that the Dublin rules have not been suspended and that Hungary and other countries must continue to follow them. But following Merkel’s decision to waive the rules for Syrians, Berlin’s calls for enforcement have largely been ignored.