An Unpopular Opinion

I probably should have titled this post, “The One Where I Talk About A Problem Without Offering A Solution.”

Unless you’ve been seriously avoiding the news lately, you’re probably aware of the current refugee crisis.  As all manner of terrible things continue to take place in the Middle East, people are streaming in to other countries unchecked, and in unheard of numbers. 

I’m not going to debate the wisdom (or lack thereof) of various countries taking in so many people at such a rapid rate; I have my own thoughts on that, but they’re an argument for another day.  I will say, however, that if a nation is going to allow such massive amounts people to stream in, they should have a reasonable plan in place on how to deal with them.  To do otherwise, as is happening now, is simply irresponsible. 

To my point, let’s talk about Sumte.  It’s a tiny little town in Germany, and when I say tiny, I mean TINY.  There are only 102 residents and the town barely has any infrastructure.  There are no schools, no shops, no law enforcement, and only the most skeleton of public transportation systems.  This little town was informed recently by their regional government officials that they are going to be required to take in 750 refugees.  Did you catch that?  Did you do the math?  There are only 102 people in the town to begin with, and they’re being forced to take in 750 more!  Insanity.

Apparently the town has some empty government buildings so that’s why they were chosen to house so many, but this is happening all over Germany.  When residents of Sumte heard their particular news and asked for a police force to be formed to provide protection for everyone, there request was excused as being “excessive.”  Apparently the people were told that all would be well and that they shouldn’t worry about any crime because the town’s streetlights would remain lit all night.  Yep.  No crime.  Because the lights will be on.  How laughable!  These aren’t your run-of-the-mill law abiding German citizens, these are people with very different ideas of what law and order (or not) should look like; stories are already coming in from all over Germany reporting rises in both theft and bodily injury since the influx of refugees began. 

I don’t’ see how this can end well.  The German culture, in many ways their way of life, is being threatened by these careless open-door policies.  The people coming in aren’t going to just assimilate, their numbers are far too great for that.  I’m afraid that we’re going to see crime and violence increase over time.  And people are naïve to think that all of these people, many of them “healthy young men,” are just poor victims of Middle East turmoil.  At best, many of these people are opportunists just taking advantage of easy access to the European nations; I fear that far too many are those who are just biding their time and positioning themselves to do great and untold harm to the civilized world.

There’s got to be a better system; there has to be some way to help those who are truly in need but to also keep a nation’s borders and citizens safe.  Letting the masses in as Germany is doing isn’t the way.  Closing the borders and aiding no one isn’t the answer either.  There has to be a middle ground.  I just hope that it’s found before it’s too late.  Germany may in part have sealed their fate; I pray that something changes before the same thing happens here in America.