About 200 people massed in the eastern town of Heidenau, some booing and shouting "traitor, traitor" and "we are the mob" as she arrived at the shelter, in a show of defiance over a record influx of asylum-seekers.
But following her visit, Merkel vowed: "There will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people."
"The more people who make that clear... the stronger we will be and the better we will be able to address this task" of caring for refugees.
The showdown in Germany came as chaotic scenes erupted at Hungary's border town of Roszke with police firing tear gas at migrants.
Police had sought to stop around 200 people trying to leave the country's main refugee processing centre there.
Budapest said it would send in police reinforcements to stem a record influx of asylum-seekers, as more than 2,500 people crossed into the EU country from its southern frontier with Serbia, days before a vast razor-wire barrier aimed at keeping out migrants is completed.
Europe is struggling to cope with its biggest migrant crisis since World War II – from thousands of refugees landing on the shores of Italy and Greece to the hundreds climbing onto trucks to get from France to Britain.
Hamstrung by a lack of a coherent European response to the crisis, governments have undertaken at times contradictory approaches to the issue.
Hungary is building a wall to keep migrants out, while the Czech Republic's deputy prime minister Andrej Babis called for the visa-free Schengen zone be closed with NATO deployment.
Germany, which is preparing to receive a record 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, instead eased the asylum application procedure for Syrians fleeing a brutal civil war.
Natasha Bertaud, spokeswoman for the EU Commission, said Berlin's move was "recognition of the fact that we cannot leave the member states at the external borders alone in dealing with a large number of asylum-seekers".
Under the so-called Dublin rules, the first EU country where an asylum-seeker arrives is usually required to process the claimant's application.
In practice, this means countries on the EU's southern borders like Greece or Italy are overwhelmed with applications.
But Berlin's largesse was not always welcomed at home, particularly in the east where a spate of attacks has hit refugee centres.
President Joachim Gauck blasted a "dark Germany" behind the series of xenophobic attacks, as German leaders went on the offensive to quell the wave of anti-migrant violence...
AFP
26/8/15
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Related:
Czech Vice PM Calls for Closing External Borders of Shengen
Merkel to visit protest-hit refugee home
FYROM allows ‘limited number’ of migrants to cross border from Greece. (Assurances that the border will not be closed in the future)
Serbian leader criticizes Hungary for migrant border fence
Germany expects 800,000 asylum seekers
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Merkel backs emergency funds for German towns facing refugee influx...
ReplyDeleteGermany's government plans to double funding this year to help towns cope with record numbers of refugees, moving to tackle an issue that is straining resources and fuelling social tensions.
With refugee shelters in the country being attacked almost daily and politicians warning of a rise in xenophobia, Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed a draft law to bring forward the transfer of 500 million euros ($575 million) originally intended for 2016.
Germany, the biggest recipient of migrants in Europe, and its European Union partners are groping for answers to the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War Two.
Ever greater numbers of migrants, most fleeing conflict or extreme poverty in Africa or the Middle East, are trying to gain access to the 28-nation bloc, testing its unity and fuelling widespread anti-immigration sentiment.
Germany alone expects the number of asylum seekers to quadruple this year to 800,000, and those towns in the front line say they are already struggling to pay for accommodation and fund medical care for the new arrivals.................reuters.com
26/8/15
Angela Merkel urged Germans to stand up against hatred and vowed zero tolerance for attacks against refugees, even as more than a hundred far-right protesters booed her visit to a shelter for asylum-seekers Wednesday...
ReplyDeleteMerkel had traveled to Heidenau, a small town near Germany's eastern border with the Czech Republic, to express support for refugees following neo-Nazi riots at the site over the weekend. Dozens of police were injured when a far-right mob hurled bottles and fireworks at officers in an attempt to prevent asylum seekers from moving into the former hardware store south of Dresden on Friday and Saturday.
"It's shameful and repulsive what we experienced here,'' Merkel said, speaking of the weekend disturbance. A couple of hundred meters (yards) away, far-right protesters jeered and sounded car horns. Some protesters held placards denouncing the government, while others shouted "traitors'' and "lying press.''...........AP...........http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
26/8/15
Merkel to meet Balkan leaders over migrants crisis...
ReplyDeleteGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel and western Balkan leaders will gather in Vienna Thursday in a bid to find a coherent approach to tackling the biggest migration crisis to hit Europe since World War II.
The meeting comes a day after Merkel vowed zero tolerance for "vile" anti-migrant violence and as criticism grows against the European Union for failing to coordinate a solution.
With the situation spiralling further on Wednesday, rescuers found 55 more corpses on stricken boats in the Mediterranean, adding to a toll of more than 2,300 people who have drowned while attempting the perilous crossing since the beginning of 2015.
Police fired tear gas in chaotic scenes at a Hungarian border town, and Budapest considered deploying troops to stem a record influx of asylum seekers.
Alarmed by the worsening dilemma, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged countries "in Europe and elsewhere to prove their compassion and do much more to bring an end to the crisis"................http://www.france24.com/en/20150827-merkel-meet-balkan-leaders-over-migrants-crisis
27/8/15