Germany opened its borders to foreign workers in the 1960s and made no demands that immigrants learn the language or integrate into German society.
Merkel said that the hope of having separate cultural groups happily coexisting inside Germany was “not the reality.”
The Chancellor made it clear that she was not proposing Germany seal its borders. Germany could not risk being seen as a country which rejected foreigners, she said, because, “that would do great damage to our country. Companies would go elsewhere, because they couldn’t find workers here.”
Merkel went on to explain that “integration is one of the key tasks facing us in the future. At the same time it must be a trademark of Germany that the country gives people here an opportunity.”
Merkel also said, “We feel bound to the Christian image of humanity—that is what defines us. Those who do not accept this are in the wrong place here,” according to the Daily Mail.
Many Germans Prefer Fewer Immigrants
Merkel is under pressure from elements of her own party to tighten up on immigration. This pressure comes from a general increase in xenophobia in the country.
Germany, with a population of 79 million, is home to seven million immigrants, 4.3 million of which are Muslims, according to the Daily Mail.
The Guardian reports that last week Bavarian Premier Horst Seehoffer, a CDU member, called for a halt to all Turkish and Arabic immigration.
Also last week, the Freidrich Ebert Foundation, a think tank associated with the center-left opposition Social Democratic Party, released a study showing 30 percent of Germans feel their country is being ”overrun by foreigners,” the Christian Science Monitor reports.
The study also found that 60 percent of all Germans would “restrict the practice of Islam,” and 17 percent said Jews had “too much influence.”
Not all CDU members favor the anti-immigrant rhetoric. On Sunday, Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that Germany needed more skilled workers, and should consider lowering immigration barriers for trained foreigners.
Chancellor Merkel said training unemployed Germans should take precedence over bringing in skilled foreign workers, though she admitted some would be needed.
