An Afghan boy broke down in tears as he thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her government’s open-door refugee policy.
“I would like to thank you, Mrs Merkel,” the boy, Edris, said in German into a microphone at a party conference of her Christian Democrats (CDU) in the western city of Heidelberg.
“I am very, very happy,” said Edris, who had been lifted up by his father so he could see the chancellor.
A smiling Merkel praised Edris’ German language skills before hurriedly leaving the podium to greet her young admirer, who wiped away tears as he shook her hand.
The encounter with Edris was in marked contrast to that with Reem, a 14-year-old Palestinian refugee, who cried during a televised meeting with Merkel about her family’s possible deportation back to Lebanon.
That meeting last year sparked controversy as Merkel told Reem that “politics is sometimes hard” and Germany wouldn’t be able to manage an unchecked influx of Palestinian refugees.
The chancellor’s subsequent attempts to console Reem were described by critics as heartless.
More than a million refugees have entered Germany since the start of 2015.
Underlining the tensions caused by Merkel’s liberal refugee policy, CDU member Ulrich Sauer drew boos when he called on the chancellor to step aside from the party leadership over her “laissez-faire” asylum policy.
Sauer told delegates the policy was “a burden that we will not get rid of any time soon.”
Despite a slump in Merkel’s popularity following her decision to open Germany’s borders, she announced last week that she is planning to seek a fourth term in September. (NAN)