German chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government’s refugee policy at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday, insisting that the country was capable of handling what she called a “historic test” of integrating refugees from war-torn areas.
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She said the attacks carried out by refugees who had “sought protection in Germany – or at least made out that they sought protection” were an “affront to the country that took them in, and an affront to all those who have volunteered to help them, as well as to the many law-abiding refugees”.
Politicians from left and right say Merkel’s refugee policy is at fault, after more than a million migrants entered Germany in the past year, many fleeing war in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
Referring to series of deadly attacks in France, Belgium, Turkey and the USA state of Florida as well as Germany, she said, “Taboos of civilisation are being broken.These acts happened in places where any of us could have been”.
Germany will “stick to our principles” and “give shelter to those who deserve it”, said Merkel, who cut short her summer vacation to speak after a string of Islamist attacks in the country. “This is our responsibility, I am convinced of that”.
“We can do this and we have already done a lot over the past 11 months”, she said.
Then on Sunday, a Syrian refugee killed a woman in a machete attack, leaving five others hurt.
The attacks have reignited a debate about how to deal with criminal asylum seekers and about the policing of Germany’s borders.
“We’ll manage it”, the German chancellor said, repeating a phrase – “wir shaffen das” – she famously used last August about her commitment to taking in refugees.
Mrs Merkel said that besides organised terrorist attacks, there will be new threats from perpetrators not known to security personnel. She also admitted that even a powerful country like Germany cannot take so many refugees in the long term..
“Key message of the press conference: mantra-like “we can do this”,” AfD co-leader Frauke Petry posted on her Twitter account after the event.
Over 1 million refugees flocked to Germany past year.
“We have to do whatever is humanly possible – and I want to do that in my work – to prevent any such attacks from taking place”, Merkel said. But the Chancellor said she felt she had “acted responsibly and correctly”. Joachim Herrmann, interior minister for Bavaria where three of the four recent attacks occurred, vowed Thursday to add 2,000 more police officers during the next four years and increase law enforcement intelligence efforts.
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The security plan also includes the creation of a central agency tasked with decrypting online communications for the objective of national security and the acceleration of plans for intelligence-sharing with other countries.
