This is the summer of the refugees, a time when the displaced, the desperate and the desolate have embarked on an all-or-nothing trek across Europe in what has become the greatest migration crisis since the end of the Second World War. While Balkan nations have quickly erected fences and razor-wires to keep the flood of refugees outside their border, Germany, above all others, has readily opened its doors to those most in need.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under attack from right-wing xenophobes who are determined to oppose any influx of the desperate from Syria, Libya and beyond who want to start a new life of peace and economic prosperity in Germany. Last week, in eastern Germany, she came under verbal attack from such hate-mongers. But she is a woman of remarkable moral courage. And her words send out a clear message that the European Union and its people need to do more to help those most in need.
“There will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people,” Merkel said. We couldn’t agree more.
