KTG17 wrote:
Would like to hear from any dakka members from Germany on this. . .

Is this legit?

Mrs Merkel herself has previously admitted that such 'no go zones' are indeed a reality amid pledges to 'do something about them'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5620795/Most-Germans-fear-no-zones-believe-police-afraid-patrol.html

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

 feeder wrote:
Something to consider is the fact that, after a while, these areas that have been settled by a particular immigrant population become celebrated. My city is proud of it's claim to Canada's oldest Chinatown, and it's a featured heavily as part of our tourism. Similar Chinatowns and Little Italys exist across North America.

There is nothing about this new wave of brown immigrants that hasn't already been said about every other wave of Italians, Poles, Germans, Chinese and every other non-WASP immigrant that has settled. Within a few generations, the immigrant population will be subsumed by the dominant local culture, and the local culture will adopt a few of the most delicious dishes of the immigrants. (Shawarma is amazing, for example)

How do you know that? There is no guarantee that current waves of immigrants will be integrated just as effectively as past waves of immigrants. The factors in play today are entirely different. The cultural and religious values of Muslims are different to the migrants who came from British Commonwealth countries. British culture was different back in the 1950's compared to today, and we already had a shared culture thanks to the influence of the British Empire on the Commonwealth countries that a lot of people originated from.

 sebster wrote:
A hostile host population.

KTG17 wrote:

So I guess for some people, there might be no-go areas (meaning an obvious Jewish person walking down the neighborhood filled with refugees. I am sure its no different than me walking down a street in the 'hood. There is a gak-hole taco stand I go to that makes the most amazing carnitas. Like mind-blowing. Most of you wouldn't set foot in the place as its pretty filthy. I am surprised I do. But whenever I am in there, all the hispanics look at me like I just stepped out of a UFO. And this is a form of natural segregation that I expect to happen in a lot of places with refugees. I certainly haven't had any real issues (while the owner likes me, one of the ladies who works there seems to dislike me for no reason), but the fact there are only what looks like migrant families going there, and then me, the only white guy, kind of says something.

KTG17 wrote:

XuQishi wrote:
Actually no. Our Blue Card program (like the Green Card) was and is a major flop, we do not get qualified workers from outside the EU. The reason for that is that people who're already sitting on the luggage and have something to offer do not come here. Most of them speak English and in the Anglo-Saxon world skilled labor commands much higher wages at lower taxation than in Germany (actually, only Belgium is worse in that regard). Also you don't generally have to pay a crapload of money for a welfare system that you don't need. This makes countries like the US and Canada much more interesting for people who possess useful skills, while the open access to welfare draws mostly nonachievers. The migration balance in terms of highly educated people in Germany is actually slightly negative, we're more on the brain-drain side of things for the reasons above: it's not much fun to work here and it feels like a rip-off. If it weren't for social ties, my wife and I would emigrate, too. I don't care if I have to pay for my healthcare, I have to do that here anyway (and not nothing, we spent about 20 grand last year on that, I kid you not. And that was without ever needing anthing for the dentist, I dread the moment when that crap starts, my dad's carrying a Mercedes in his mouth), 140.000 USD sounds a lot better than 50.000 Euros (that's the average salary for what my wife does in the US vs. Germany), particularly if you keep in mind that you get to keep about 30K of those 50K. PhD level, too. The average salary in my line of work is about twice as high in the US, so while I'm not on a doctorate level, this would still be a load of extra cash. So yeah, as soon as the parents die, we intend to change over to the US subsidiaries of our respective companies, everything else is madness. I'm also kind of sick of paying through the nose for stuff I don't want or need. We're working class kids and worked hard to get to where we're now. There's no sign on any school that says: "Getting something out of this is forbidden for poor people".

Wow. You sound like you feel trapped. I had no idea about the wages, All I ever hear is that Germany is a utopia for social programs. Someone living in Germany in another thread mentioned that half of their pay go towards taxes and some kind of pension. I can imagine if has to be frustrating that you don't have more control of what you earn.

 sebster wrote:

 Witzkatz wrote:
On that note, the BaMF (the federal agency for migration and refugees) apparently fired a four-digit number of translators over the last years, some of them over "breach of ethical conduct", probably also because a lot of them had to be hired with very low standards to deal with the high influx of asylum seekers.

Yeah, one of the real problems with very suddenly changing refugee intakes is the staff needed to process and review that many more claims can't just be hired on Monday, and up to speed on Tuesday. Particularly with claims assessment you need to develop those skills slowly, over long periods of time.