Germany defends national ideals against refugees’ isolation

Hani Daniel

Berlin – The row over immigrants and refugees never ends in Germany. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is the target of an intense campaign in which she is accused of making a U-turn on German ideals, respect for human rights and the protection of refugees from civil war.

The Chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, a sister of Merkel’s German Christian Democrats, Horst Seehofer, is also coming under fire for failing to support the unity of the refugees with their families as well as for repeated complaints by the refugees against their inability to integrate into the German society.

Seehofer is for putting a limit to the number of refugees who should be allowed into Germany every year. Defying accusations to his party’s line on refugees, the Bavarian premier said to succeed in integrating the refugees into society, Germany needed to limit the number of refugees coming to it annually.

Our country is Christian in nature, Seehofer added to a thunderous applause from his audience, and it will remain so.

He said this was critical to the unity of the German society as a whole, underlining the importance of commitment to the primacy of German culture.

Learning the German language, Seehofer said, was an essential component of this commitment. The refugees, he added, ought also to work to earn a living.

He said the same refugees had to show abidance by German laws, not Islamic law.

Those who want to live legally here, have to want to live with us, not by us or against us, the Bavarian premier said.

Seehofer rejected criticism to his party’s line on the refugees. He would not accept, he said, the image of his party to be tarnished.

He said his party was open to the world, but at the same time had the right to defend German interests and the interests of the German people.

Seehofer concluded by saying: “Whoever represents national interests is not a right-wing extremist. The same person cannot tolerate slur.”

Philip Kessler, a human rights researcher, expected the row over the refugees to keep raging in Germany in the light of the internal struggle between human rights, on one hand, and the need to preserve European ideals and diversity, on the other.

This is particularly so, he said, given the fact that some refugees do not make enough efforts to integrate into the German society and prefer to preserve their habits and traditions, which at the end leads to their isolation.

Kessler called on the refugees to make the best use of freedoms given them as far as their ability to practice their religious and social rites are concerned. They need at the same time, he said, to show respect for German ideals, including diversity and openness, against isolation.

Seehofer was reelected as the Chairman of the Christian Social Union during a party congress a few days ago. He received 83.7 percent of the votes of party members, compared to 87.2 percent of the votes two years ago.

His reelection followed an agreement with his biggest rival, Markus Soder who is expected to be the premier of Bavaria.