Germany's U-turn on migration: Is it necessary or just politics?

euronews (in English)

Germany has taken a sharp turn in its migration policy compared to the 'welcoming measures' associated with the 'Merkel era'. Euronews reporter Monica Pinna went to Berlin to discover what has changed and why.

Transcript

00:00 [chanting]

00:02 [explosion]

00:04 [music]

00:06 A lot of people seeking shelter in Germany don't realize how much resources have come to their limits.

00:12 [speaking German]

00:18 What do you think about the deportation plan?

00:21 That's what neo-Nazis, what the AfD was always talking about.

00:26 [music]

00:29 [music]

00:31 [speaking Italian]

00:35 [speaking Italian]

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01:52 This part of the camp was added last year because we realized we need additional places.

02:01 So we built an additional 3,000 places for refugees to stay.

02:08 [music]

02:13 In the beginning this was like a hub, a logistical center where people arrived

02:19 and from where they would pass on to other destinations.

02:22 Since then, things have changed because it has become more and more difficult for people to find private housing in Berlin.

02:30 Refugees actually stay permanently.

02:33 [music]

02:35 [speaking Italian]

02:54 [speaking Italian]

03:01 [speaking Italian]

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03:36 [speaking Italian]

03:40 If the demand increases again, what's going to happen?

04:04 All over Berlin, new building sites are being designated for either temporary container villages

04:11 and also for permanent new buildings.

04:14 So there's a new building program and of course that takes time.

04:18 But at the moment, we have the emergency housing and we need it.

04:22 [music]

04:24 [speaking Italian]

04:29 [speaking Italian]

04:33 [speaking Italian]

04:53 [speaking Italian]

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05:18 [speaking Italian]

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07:19 The current government, when they took office, they signed a coalition agreement

07:23 where they said we want a shift of paradigm in migration policy.

07:28 There are a lot of people who say 2015-16 should never repeat,

07:33 where more than one million Syrians mostly came to Germany.

07:38 The conservative party is going into a much more stricter and tougher rule.

07:44 With these really large numbers and also this whole feeling of losing control

07:49 by the many people in the electorate, the discourse got much more agitated.

07:55 Of course, also with the success of the right-wing populists,

07:58 the alternative for Germany.

08:00 [speaking Italian]

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09:01 For the first time after the Second World War,

09:08 a very open fascist party is rising to power,

09:13 especially in the east of Germany.

09:15 We have on one side a government which is moving to the right

09:20 and also on the other side a mass movement from the very right.

09:25 This dynamic is part of the problem.

09:27 [music]

09:30 [speaking Italian]

09:51 [music]

09:56 (upbeat music)

09:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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