Angela Merkel’s deputy blasts handling of migrant crisis and says she ‘underestimated’ impact of open door policy

ANGELA Merkel’s deputy has savaged her handling of the migrant crisis and said she “underestimated” the challenges of integrating millions of migrants.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel blasted her open door policy and said it was “inconceivable” that Germany could again take in a million refugees and other immigrants in a single year.

Merkel opened her country’s borders last summer and it was predicted the country would receive 800,000 refugees mainly from Syria and Iraq.

It is estimated another 200,000 arrived on top of this number in 2015.

Mr Gabriel – who leads the Social Democrats (SPD) – told German broadcaster ZDF: “The Union has underestimated the challenges (of integrating refugees) and I, we, have always said that it is inconceivable to take one million people into Germany every year.

“There is an upper limit to a country’s integration ability.”

He pointed out that Germany had 300,000 new schoolchildren and could not integrate that many pupils every year, due to a shortage in teachers and buildings.

He also blasted Merkel’s catchprase “We can do this”, which she adopted during the refugee crisis last summer and has repeatedly used since.

He said repeating the phrase was not enough and the coalition needed to create conditions to help Germany cope.

Gabriel made his comments as campaigning gets underway for regional elections before next year’s federal election.

Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said yesterday that it is now preparing for a much lower immigration figure, up to a maximum of 300,000.

A poll yesterday showed 50 per cent of Germans do not want Merkel as Chancellor for a fourth term.

These figures represent a major turnaround from the consistently high approval ratings she enjoyed in previous years.

However, that was before a surge in refugee crime – including the infamous sex attacks in Cologne on New Year’s eve and asylum seekers attacking people on German soil.

Her policy has also drawn criticism from Markus Soeder, a senior member of the Christian Social Union.

He told German magazine Der Spiegel: “Even with the best will in the world, we won’t manage to integrate so many people from totally different cultures.”

He said Germany needed to send several hundred thousands of refugees back in the next three years, rather than bring in their families.

The IAB German labour officer research institute says that around 16,000 refugees are currently arriving each month, compared with more than 200,000 last November alone.

In a , Merkel said “much had been achieved” in overcoming the refugee crisis, but there remained “lots still to do.”

She expressed no regrets over her open door policy and listed the measured her government had taken to help integrate foreigners.

These included hiring thousands more officials to work in the country’s refugee agency, speeding up the deportation of migrants denied asylum, and introducing tough new rules to encourage refugees to learn German and attend integration courses.