Hey, fellow citizens, about those Syrian refugees -- our European friends have worse hassles!

[devifemme]

I've been talking to one of my favorite LJ people, Anna, the Czech linguist, about recent political difficulties in her country. She worries particularly that the flood of refugees into Europe has stoked national passions in unfortunate ways, provoking both the far right (including neo-Nazis) and leftist apologists (actually nostalgic for Communism

Comments

[matrixmann]

There's only one thing to say: One will see which one of both positions is going to shoot himself the bigger wound into the own legs. It will only take a few years.

[devifemme]

"Both positions" -- meaning the left and the right? Or the Neo-Nazis and the nostalgic Commies?

[matrixmann]

No - those positions: Either welcoming refugees unconditionally without asking who they are and if they are who they are - or the position of caution and first asking who they are before letting them in and if this cannot be cleared then keeping the fence closed.

[devifemme]

I would suggest that the U.S. admission procedures for refugees -- Syrians especially -- are already very tight. The Kafka-esque process for screening the several thousand admitted in recent months takes up to two years each.

Literally NO ONE argues for "welcoming refugees unconditionally"...

[matrixmann]

In the US maybe not (haven't heard of that, admittedly), but in Europe this position exists quite common in most of the countries - and this was a subject of the original post. This is what it referred to.

[pony_rocks]

I pretty much understand the need for admission procedures - and they do exist here in Europe, trust me.
What we are appaled about here in the Czech Republic is a president who publicly associates himself with a leader of an extremist group which not only refuses to accept even a single refugee, but also wants to get rid of our (extremely small and very peaceful) Muslim minority - they were threatening them openly with violence, concentration camps and mass murdering, and they also consider anybody who would come to local Muslim people's defense a traitor of the state (i.e. someone who should be killed).
So yes, there is only one thing to say: SHAME on such people, SHAME on such president! And once this is said, we can all sit down and try to find the best not-black-or-white solution for the current crisis.

[devifemme]

Dear Anna -- thank you for pursuing these refugee issues, which you and I have been conversing about in recent weeks. It is regrettable that extremists in so many countries (including the U.S.) are using fear-mongering to advance their own agendas -- their own perverted priorities.

I'm sorry that your current president -- in the context of the refugee issue -- is allowing himself to be associated with those dark political forces. This failure of political leadership is unquestionably dangerous.

You are right that all our nations need to pursue "the best not-black-or-white solution" -- that is, responsive compromises -- according to each country's circumstances. I thought yesterday's meeting of the U.S. and French presidents was positive. Chancellor Merkel also continues to show firm leadership.

[pony_rocks]

The funniest thing is the president is backpedaling something furious now, claiming he did not know the extremist leader would be there and that he did not know him anyway and had no idea about the threats to Muslim community. That's such a big, fat lie, though! The man has been all over the papers for the past few months, so if the president says he does not know anything about him, he is pretty much saying he pays absolutely no attention to what is happening in the country. FAIL! Except yeah, the president is lying, because there is an article from June 2015 where he mentions the extremist leader and talks about his obvious political ambitions. So there

[devifemme]

He sounds like any of the Republican candidates for our Prez elections -- notably Jeb Bush -- somehow the nobler qualities required for leadership are forgotten.