Merkel urges Germans to see refugee influx as ‘an opportunity for tomorrow’

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Thursday 31 Dec 2015 - 11:22 Makkah mean time-20-3-1437 Chancellor Angela Merkel (AFP pic) Berlin (IINA) – Chancellor Angela Merkel in her New Year’s address on Thursday asked Germans to see refugee arrivals as “an opportunity for tomorrow” and urged doubters not to follow racist hate-mongers, The Guardian reported. “I am convinced that, handled properly, today’s great task presented by the influx and the integration of so many people is an opportunity for tomorrow,” she said. The past year – when the country took in more than a million migrants and refugees – had been unusually challenging, Merkel said in a pre-released text of the speech, also bracing Germans for more hardships ahead. But she stressed that in the end it would all be worth it because “countries have always benefited from successful immigration, both economically and socially”. With a view to right-wing populists and xenophobic street rallies, she said “It’s important we don’t allow ourselves to be divided.” “It is crucial not to follow those who, with coldness or even hatred in their hearts, lay a sole claim to what it means to be German and seek to exclude others.” Merkel said “there has rarely been a year in which we were challenged so much to follow up our words with deeds”. She thanked volunteers and police, soldiers and administrators for their “outstanding” accomplishments and “doing far, far more than their duty”. Looking to 2016, the German chancellor said: “There is no question that the influx of so many people will keep demanding much of us. It will take time, effort and money.” But she recalled that Germany had mastered past challenges such as reunification a quarter of a century ago and benefitted from a “robust and innovative” economy. She urged Germans to be “self-confident and free, humanitarian and open to the world”. Germany took in almost 1.1 million asylum seekers this year, five times 2014’s total, the Säechsische Zeitung regional daily reported on Wednesday citing unpublished official figures. AB/IINA