AFP, Berlin :Chancellor Angela Merkel in her New Year’s address Thursday asked Germans to see a record refugee influx as “an opportunity for tomorrow” and urged doubters not to follow racist hate-mongers.The past year — when the top EU economy took in over one million asylum seekers — had been unusually challenging, she said in a pre-released text of the speech, also bracing Germans for more hardships ahead.But she stressed that in the end it would all be worth it because “countries have always benefitted from successful immigration, both economically and socially”.With a view to right-wing populists and xenophobic street rallies, she said “it’s important we don’t allow ourselves to be divided”.”It is crucial not to follow those who, with coldness or even hatred in their hearts, lay a sole claim to what it means to be German and seek to exclude others.”Merkel has earned both praise and criticism at home and abroad for her decision to open Germany to a record wave of refugees, about half from war-torn Syria.Germany took in almost 1.1 million asylum seekers this year, five times last year’s total, the Saechsische Zeitung regional daily reported Wednesday citing unpublished official figures.
