Yahoo News wrote:Merkel's popularity drops in Germany amid migrant crisis
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity at home has been hit by her policy of openness towards the wave of migrants coming in from Syria and elsewhere, according to an opinion poll published Saturday.
Merkel's "strong commitment to the refugees has obviously not been met with much backing," the Der Spiegel weekly newspaper said on the poll published in its pages.
Germany is expecting up to a million refugees and migrants to enter its borders this year, many encouraged by Merkel's welcoming stance.
On Saturday she urged Germans to bring back the spirit of the country's reunification in 1990 to help face today's challenge of integrating the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and misery.
The German Chancellor was placed fourth in the paper's regular popularity contest, carried out by the TNS Forschung institute.
In first place was her foreign minister, the Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier who won 67 percent support in response to the posed question: which political figures they hoped would "play an important role in future".
Merkel garnered 64 percent in the poll, five points less than in June.
In second place was Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, who has won plaudits for his handling of the Greek debt crisis. Third was German President Joachim Gauck.
It was the first time in this parliament, which began in 2013, that a Social Democrat, part of Merkel's federal government, came out on top of the poll, according to Der Spiegel.
The poll of 1,013 people was carried out from September 19 to 22.
http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-seeks-germ ... 47472.htmlDaily Moan/The Times wrote:Rape and child abuse 'are rife in German refugee camps': Unsegregated conditions blamed as women are 'seen as fair game' in overcrowded migrant centres
A culture of rape and sexual abuse is being allowed to take hold in asylum centres across Germany as Europe struggles to cope with the migrant crisis, it has been alleged,
Women’s rights groups and politicians have highlighted assaults against women and children in at least one camp.
And they suggest such incidents may be widespread, with many going unreported to the police.
Campaigners also claimed some men saw unaccompanied women as ‘fair game’, and also blamed conditions in which occupants were unsegregated by gender or nationality.
http://www.dailyfail.co.uk/news/article ... int-claim-NBC News wrote:Refugee Crisis: Unease Mixes With Empathy in Germany
While the wave of German generosity for incoming refugees might be unabated, it's starting to coming up against a swell of angst and unease.
Nearly all the chairs in the sports hall of this small rural town were occupied one recent evening by locals keen to air their concerns over a refugee processing center due to open there in an abandoned military installation.
"We need your understanding and support for the foreigners, who are coming to us in need of help," Stefanie Ross-Stabernack, head of the community council, told the packed hall in her opening remarks.
But with politicians expecting up to one million asylum-seekers this year and reports of overcrowded refugee shelters elsewhere, several residents expressed fear instead of empathy.
"How is this supposed to continue?" asked Herbert Gross, 70. "We are taking in more and more and more people. Many of them get better housing than a poor worker in Germany," he added, to applause.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europe ... ny-n433106It's all very predictable, really. The comments on the Yahoo article echoing those found on CBS, Fox News, and the Daily Mail interestingly enough. Completely rational though, obviously...
Michael wrote:You Europeans should kill Merkel