Franz Welser-Möst backs Vienna Phil refugee home

Peter says:

He does say in the video he is contributing. So I assume the shortfall still remains after that.

V.Lind says:

Slight exaggeration? Despite the fact that I tend to see the force of some of the arguments proffered by John and think some of the reaction to his main point is a bit hysterical, I seriously doubt such arguments are enhanced by made-up figures.

I do suspect that you are correct that far too many of the migrants are single men, though some of them may be advance parties hoping to bring wives, children, etc. in once they find their feet.

I do suspect that Mrs. Merkel’s open door policy has made Germany the target destination as the policy implies that the country is welcoming them, and clearly some between Syria and Germany do not. Where would you go if you were on the run from something evil: a place where you were met with hostility and a history of racism (e.g. Hungary)? Or a country that says, come ahead, the more the merrier, room for all?

But there is validity, too, to the argument that these people making such choices are more economic migrants than refugees by the time they reach Austria, Germany or Scandinavia. And I fail to see why these countries should have to absorb far more than their share of migrants when other nations slam their doors. The EU ought to be telling countries like Poland and the rest of the East Bloc that if they want to stay in the EU, they will have to participate in an EU-sanctioned policy of immigration. They have no great right to rest on their xenophobic laurels — and that is what refusing refugees, as many legitimately are — because they are foreign.

That IS and the Syrian government are indeed sponsoring some of these people is likely. There may not have been that many involved in Cologne and other centres but it is enough, and they are sowing dissent. However, it drew out the weaselly attitude of the Mayor of Cologne, whose position that women ought to “stay at arm’s length” is tantamount to saying “and should wear a headscarf” — in other words playing into the hands of the mediaeval attitudes that even many of the more decent of these arrivals holds regarding women. And drawing out the information about the absence of reporting and prosecution of similar incidents in Scandinavia out of some sort of pitiful political correctness.

Canada, where I live, has taken a very welcoming stance toward Syrian refugees, with the new Prime Minister even greeting the first planeload. Stories from the communities where they have been settled have been heartwarming, and many of the arrivals are families. But it is to be hoped a close eye is kept till we see the extent to which the new arrivals adapt to Canadian life. There is an awfully strong streak of political correctness in our shower, too, and with our current PM the son of the inventor of multi-cult, we are likely to hear a lot of it.

I think some wild things are said on these threads, but I am not sure they should all be dismissed out of hand. he core of the differing views all seem to have some merit. Most westerners are appalled by the extremism of some other citizenries. I think we would be well advised to avoid extreme positions in our own approach, whatever it is, to the ongoing social and societal change that is being thrust on so many of us.