The Letters Story

Focus, the German news magazine, brought up this story today....over immigration and refugees.

Three German cities....Bonn, Dusseldorf, and Koln....volunteered around six months ago....to take more refugees from the Med.  The city letters all talked about humanity, rights of the oppressed, and integration. 

The letters arrived to the Chancellor's office, and have sat there.  No movement.

Some Germans have shaken their heads over the offer, and questioned the political intent of the city councils/mayors involved. 

There is a division growing over the German landscape, where one group are obviously pro-asylum/pro-immigration, and the other sliding toward a anti-asylum/anti-immigration position.  In some ways, the politicalized agenda-folks leaning on pro-asylum...are now facing discontent, and voters shifting away from long-standing voting practices.  Your father and grandfather may have been hardcore SPD-enthusiasts, but you might have resentment over the immigration position and have walked away from the party you most identified with.

Even within the Green Party, you can find certain areas of Germany where the pro-asylum and anti-asylum landscape is beginning to exist, and Green voters are asking questions over the direction ahead.

The curious thing about this entire discussion....being dragged down into the city-level, is that immigration and asylum was always built as a national agenda/problem.  Cities, for almost an eternity, had a certain priority listing (safe water, a good sanitation program, streets without potholes, city parks, secure environment to walk around day and night, etc).  In some ways, the city leadership you see around Germany are moving onto national topics and making the case that state/national leadership aren't focused or achieving the results demanded by the cities.  One might suspect that eventually down the line.....a number of urban city-dwellers are going to lose patience with city leadership bent on some national agenda, and just 'fire' them in some massive leadership change via an election.