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Comment by physhster | Hacker News Reader

Given the amount of immigrants in Europe in general and in Germany in particular, I don't think they are trying to deter people. Or if they are trying it's not working.

The incompetence is not confined to immigration, it's pretty much everywhere. Same goes for France actually.

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i wonder how much of the "incompetence" is really just under-staffing, and how much is the public servants being paid to essentially do little/no work.

It plays a major role. That, the increasing number of applicants and inefficient, paper-based bureaucracy are the three major causes, I would say.

The impression I got from the last time I was in Germany (some ~7 years ago), there's a going concern among at least some people that a certain ethnicity of immigrants is "taking over". This might be a pearl-clutching minority, or I may have completely misread the situation.

German reporting in. Disclaimer: I am biased as I think immigration is great and I wish the process was easier and faster for those seeking to live in Germany. I think your observation is sadly very correct and this minority is very well measurable and concerningly large and growing in a lot of places. Just look at how many people vote for the AfD. Those are the ones having that concern. Luckily some places(e.g. Hamburg, Berlin) are on average more open to foreigners than others (e.g. Sachsen).

There seems to be a growing frustration about asylum seekers who moved to Germany and did not adopt German values, a theme you will find in every country.

It's scary because the party that complains the most about it is gaining traction, and it convinces centrist parties to change their stance on immigration. It's not a pearl-clutching minority anymore, but a politically advantageous position.

As an immigrant, I feel like we're about to live a variation of the Niemöller poem. "First they came for the asylum seekers..."

Well, when you come to a country you should make an effort to adopt the country's values and customs. If you stay for longer you should also make an effort to learn the language.

If you are not doing any of that is that really that surprising that people are getting fed up with it?

Agreed, but even here in the states that has been considered a “racist” position for decades, as has securing the borders. Which after doing a lot of international travel confuses me. I wouldn’t illegally move to Japan, expect them to not deport me, allow me to use social services, and also not mind if I brought my own culture with me without attempting to assimilate on some level.

> There seems to be a growing frustration about asylum seekers who moved to Germany and did not adopt German values, a theme you will find in every country.

I'd like to see white, christians or atheists, germans move to some of the countries those asylum seekers are coming from and see how they'd be treated.

Then we can discuss if it's the same in every country.

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