Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Die Welt- German Government Knew Well in Advance Refugee Crisis Was Coming

The most common remark made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel was until recently the assertion that its policy was "no alternative". At the climax of the refugee crisis, a second postulate is now to come: "We can do this, and we can do that." The phrase sounds like the German version of Obama's "Yes, we can".He meant to be encouraging. But we do it too?

A look at countries, municipalities and authorities unfortunately shows: We do it less and less - and some we did not create.The government failure stands in sharp contrast to the courageous intervention of tens of thousands of volunteers. Authorities are no longer able to do simple tasks. The chaos starts with the registration of refugees.

Federal Police and state police can not exchange electronically with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) their records. This was confirmed by the House of German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) of the "Welt am Sonntag"."Currently use the various authorities for processing the asylum procedure different IT systems," the ministry said.

This causes considerably more work. So employees of BAMF data already collected the police have currently entered manually into the new computer. "The Federal Police can apprehension relating to refugees and the results of police identification treatments so far only by e-mail to the BAMF forward", said a senior federal police officer. The BAMF employees would have this data then transferred into their own IT system. "This is an incredible duplication of effort," the official said. It involves thousands of e-mails that can be processed slowly.

"Incredible duplication"

The federal police cleared the maladministration also a "why an appropriate transition to the systems of the BAMF, which would ensure compatibility, has not been created, the federal police is not known." Last Thursday was resigned BAMF President Manfred Schmidt.

According to the Interior Ministry a "feasibility study" for further digitization of the asylum procedure will be created. Therein it is about the "electronic communications via universal interfaces with other authorities, including BAMF, Federal Police and state authorities".In future aspire to "a nationwide fingerprinting procedures already at the first contact of the asylum seekers" to.

Many problems could have been avoided if the government had taken the authorities early warnings seriously. So the Ministry of Interior were after information of this newspaper in the first quarter corresponding predictions before.

"One million coming in 2015," the Federal Police warned that time. But between Ukraine and Greece crisis reverberated the warning apparently. De Maiziere said in August of 800,000 refugees after the number had been piecemeal revised upwards. Now in government from a round million refugees is talk.

Most caught only henchmen

The fight against smuggling leaves far to be desired. Although the number of resolutions smuggling has risen sharply in Germany in recent weeks. So far around 3,000 investigations against traffickers have been newly introduced in the 2015th By no means in any case it comes to prosecution. In the clutches of the police usually advised only henchmen, as stressed a prosecutor. Mostly about the drivers would only "small fish" caught. At the backers, the smuggling bosses abroad, the Justice'll zoom better than ever.

However, the Federal Republic is not only in organizational and political terms, the biggest challenge since reunification. In financial terms, is tackling the refugee crisis is a huge task. The estimated costs are already in the billions.Because of the looming overspending Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has now buried plans for larger tax cuts. Schäuble's officials wanted to reduce the income tax to relieve citizens. This is nothing.

To envy debate - low paid against refugees - to prevent, Labour Minister Andrea Nahles now planning even a new program for long-term unemployed. SPD parliamentary leader Thomas Oppermann wants to support homebuilders more: ". We need a general housing program, the Housing manages to refugees, but also for tenants who are looking for affordable housing may not at any social divisions come," he said. Even that will cost a lot of money.