Angela Merkel defends Germany’s refugee policy despite attacks

Asylum seekers who committed recent attacks in Germany “mock” the country that welcomed them, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said.

Last week Germany faced four attacks, three of which were committed by asylum seekers in Würzburg, in Ansbach and in Reutlingen. In Munich, a German-Iranian killed nine people before killing himself.

“That two men who came to us as refugees are responsible for the deeds in Würzburg and Ansbach mocks the country which took them in, and I want to add that it does not matter to me at all whether these refugees came to us along with many other refugees before or after the fourth of September last year,” DW quoted Ms Merkel to have said.

The Chancellor was referring to the large influx of asylum seekers who came to Germany in late summer 2015 after she made it easier for those hoping to reach Germany to do so.

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Last year Ms Merkel used the famous phrase “we can do it” (wir schaffen das) to explain to Germans that they could handle the challenges involved in welcoming hundreds of thousands refugees.

“Eleven months ago I said right here in this room that Germany is a strong country… we have achieved so much. We can do it.”

“I didn’t say 11 months ago that it would be a simple matter that we could easily solve,” Ms Merkel said.

“But I am as convinced today as I was back then that we will manage our historic duty… And that’s why we will also overcome the new challenge confronting us, which is called Islamist terror. We will introduce the correct measures and make clear that we want to give our citizens security and that we will master the task of integration,” Ms Merkel said.