Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who played a key role in shaping the European immigration crisis, has criticized the current Berlin government for its stance on asylum seekers at the borders.
Merkel stated this week that anyone arriving at German borders should not be dismissed, accusing Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government of attempting to encourage illegal migration.
Merkel, who is part of the same Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, mentioned that the government has used emergency EU measures to restrict immigrants from entering to protect German citizens following several terrorist attacks linked to asylum seekers over the past year.
This move has sparked significant backlash from leftist figures in Germany, as well as from the judiciary, who sought to challenge the Berlin government’s border policies.
While speaking with former refugees, Merkel joined others in voicing concerns, suggesting her successor was under pressure from the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AFD) party.
“We indeed need to lower the number of illegal migrations, but we must continue to uphold our values,” she remarked.
Merkel then added:
“In my view, the processing can occur at the border, but it needs to happen.”
Having served as Chancellor for 16 years, Merkel has faced ongoing criticisms regarding her open-border policy during the 2015 European immigration crisis, when she permitted over a million migrants from the Middle East and Africa to enter Germany.
This circumstance allowed for a situation where around one in five inhabitants of the country were born abroad, escalating to 30% if considering those with immigrant backgrounds, including those with at least one immigrant parent.
The surge of migrants has not only negatively impacted the working-class population, but it has also resulted in violent incidents. In the previous year, immigrants were implicated in terrorist activities across several cities including Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg, and Munich.
Despite the criticism, Merkel has stood firm on her decisions, stating in 2020 that she would “essentially make the same decision” regarding the immigration crisis if faced with it again.
