It is difficult to imagine how much the view of refugees in Germany has changed in the last ten years. The country whose hardening of the migration issue caused shock in Europe in September was, however, the one that boasted, in 2015, of its generous reception policy. When, in the summer of 2015, Angela Merkel’s Germany opened itself to tens of thousands of refugees from Iraq or Syria, asking for more solidarity from Europe, many people personally went to the stations to receive them in Berlin or Munich, offering them pretzels, chocolate or caramel.
At the call of local elected officials who mobilize the country on regional radio, some volunteer to receive them in their homes. “The support of the population continues unabated! It’s great! »the Munich police wrote, stunned, on Twitter on 1Ahem September 2015. Even the tabloid imagewho a few years earlier wanted to expel Greece from Europe, raised funds for refugees and honored the Germans who helped them.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose selfies with refugees go around the world, is becoming the conscience of Europe. There is talk of awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize. Its openness policy has achieved consensus in the country, but also among politicians and the business world. “So in the Bundestag we only had groups that generally supported Angela Merkel’s position or at least were not too opposed to it.recalls Ursula Münch, director of the Tutzing Academy for Political Training, near Munich. The extreme right did not exist politically. The only exception at that time was the CSU. [les conservateurs de l’Union chrétienne-sociale en Bavière, Land en première ligne dans l’accueil des réfugiés]. »
The then Social Democratic Vice-Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, wore a badge “Refugees are welcome” on the back of his jacket, and claims that the Germans can “certainly handle a figure of the order of half a million [de réfugiés par an] for several years (…), maybe even more.” These same refugees could “become the basis of the next German economic miracle », predicts Dieter Zetsche, head of the manufacturer Daimler. Economists applaud on television and explain that these refugees will pay the pensions of the baby boomers.
Wave of attacks in Cologne
The state of grace does not last. Local elected officials, responsible for most of the reception of immigrants after their distribution in the different regions of the country, are quick to point out the lack of resources in the face of the influx of asylum seekers. On a single day, September 12, 2015, more than 13,000 refugees disembarked at Munich train station. Even in small towns, Germans see families crammed into warehouses, gyms and train stations. “Wir schaffen das” (“Wir schaffen das” (“Wir schaffen das”) we will get there), says Angela Merkel.
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