Saturday, October 10, 2015

Nineteen Folks

Last night, I sat and watched Channel One (ARD) German public-run news at 8PM.  They had a 90-second piece that laid out the first 'carving' of refugees that the EU members agreed to "share" amongst themselves.  Yes, the 160,000 total refugees that the twenty-eight member states decided that they could take and distribute among themselves.

This first batch?  Somewhat of a pat on the back of the EU....folks shaking hands....patting themselves on the back and feeling proud that the program to resettle the 160,000 is going forward.

The event itself?  Well....19 Eritreans (African folks) got on a plane and flew to Sweden.

Yeah, I just sat there in amazement.....ninety seconds devoted to this and it basically involved 19 folks getting on some plane and flying off for redistribution purposes to Sweden.  It's hard to figure the enthusiasm or monumental hype involved in this EU episode.

As for the 19 Eritreans?  They seemed to be smiling.  They were going somewhere....other than Eritrea.

Now, it is October and snow has generally already started in Sweden.  The sun already sinks down at 6PM.  And it's getting cold enough to wear a thick jacket.

It's going to be hard to figure the enthusiasm level for these Eritreans in six months, and if their winter adjustment period will be difficult.  Toss on the fact that Swedes are a bit stoic in nature.

As for the remaining 159,981 folks?  Well, it may take a while.....a long while. While the agreement looked great on paper and gave political folks lots of air-time on TV.....it's questionable if this really works the way that people think.

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