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{"id":3001,"date":"2015-10-11T17:39:57","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T23:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3001"},"modified":"2015-10-11T17:39:57","modified_gmt":"2015-10-11T23:39:57","slug":"if-they-wont-let-me-stay-in-germany-i-will-go-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/10\/if-they-wont-let-me-stay-in-germany-i-will-go-back-home.html","title":{"rendered":"“If they won’t let me stay in Germany, I will go back home”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That, paraphrased, is what a Syrian \u201crefugee\u201d is quoted as saying in this \u201cgreatest hits\u201d video of complaining migrants<\/a>, in Germany and in the Netherlands; \u00a0in this case, said by a man who came to Germany with his wife and two children, one of whom is a disabled preschooler. \u00a0And by \u201cwon\u2019t let me stay in Germany,\u201d he\u2019s referring to plans in the EU to move migrants to other EU countries, not some fear of being moved to a refugee camp in Turkey, for instance. \u00a0And by \u201chome\u201d he literally means Syria \u2014 that is, that the situation wasn\u2019t so dire as to make returning beyond contemplation.<\/p>\n

Not only are the hordes of asylum-seekers arriving in Germany, day after day, from all over the Middle East, Africa and Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.), rather than simply those fleeing war-torn countries, but here\u2019s the further tragedy: \u00a0the high cost of making the trip, both in terms of basic travel expenses and the smugglers who get them across borders, is enough that the truly desperate never leave refugee camps or even their own borders. \u00a0It is only the better-off who can manage such a trip. \u00a0See this report by Al-Jazeera<\/a>, \u201cMiddle-class Syrian refugees start back at square one in Germany,\u201d which cites the cost of the trip from Syria at EUR 3,000, and this Washington Post article cites even higher prices<\/a>, upwards of $10,000 or more.<\/p>\n

Which is disconcerting for multiple reasons: \u00a0the people most in need of help aren\u2019t getting it, because they\u2019re at refugee camps, out of sight, out of mind, while Germany and other wealthy EU countries deal with the mess of refugee-claimants there. \u00a0The people who have traveled to Germany are doubly p***ed because they\u2019re accustomed, many of them, to middle-class living standards, and they\u2019ve invested so much money in this venture that they can\u2019t accept it being a failure, if they end up somewhere poorer and unable to take advantage of the Germany economy, get German-sized welfare benefits, bring their family to Germany, etc. \u00a0And, should the war end in Syria in with some reasonably peaceful resolution, this brain drain of massive proportions will prevent the country from rebuilding, if their entire educated class has left.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"