Europeans — especially Germans — are increasingly keen on curbing immigration and are less focused on climate change, according to a study by a Danish-based think tank.
Europe has seen a sharp rise in the share of people who say that reducing immigration should be a top government priority, according to a study published Wednesday. Germany is topping the list.
At the same time, there was less desire to prioritize fighting climate change in the same countries, according to the survey commissioned by the Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation think tank.
Nearly half of German respondents put focus on migration
Since 2022, an increasing number of Europeans say their government should prioritize “reducing immigration,” rising from just under 20% to a quarter.
Meanwhile, concern about climate change was on the slide across the continent.
“In 2024, for the first time, reducing immigration is a greater priority for most Europeans than fighting climate change,” the report said.
“Nowhere is this reversal more striking than in Germany, which now leads the world with the highest share of people who want their government to focus on reducing immigration — topping all other priorities — and now nearly twice as high as fighting climate change,” the report read.
I’ve got news for you guys, one of these things is going to radically affect the other.
Maybe the key to getting old people to care about climate change is to frame the mass displacement and migration that will occur as a direct result of it.
That is pretty genius for sure but I think the issue is that these people think that once shit hits the fan they will be able to stop the desperate masses at their border by legalisation or whatever.
uncontrolled migration is largely caused by the effects of climate change on poor southern countries.
I came to say this exactly. Also I just realized that I would love to move to a beautiful beach area in one of the Pacific facing tropical countries…places where poor people migrate away from… Does that make sense? That having money protects you from climate change? If basically a middle class person from the US can be rich in these poor countries, does that mean that they are less affected? You can afford fruits and vegetables if you have money? What if more rich assholes move into the area? Do they also get to still afford fresh bananas, and strawberries? Something tells me that they would quickly saturate the area like here in Seattle where every event seems to be packed to the brim with people. There’s just a packet room no matter what you choose to do. Hiking? Shoulder to shoulder. Swimming? Sardines in a can. Etc.
The Germans have a guaranteed welfare system for migrants. That is one major reason they are the preferred destination, and able-bodied people who go to another country just for welfare, are not good people, which coincidentally linked to increased crime. It seems to me, white folks try hard to convince people they are not racist. Then they live safely in their gated communities.
I’m pretty sure the increased crime among refugees here in germany is largely due to the laughably long wait times (months, if you’re lucky, on average 3 years) until their case gets reviewed, and them only gettting a tiny allowance (max. 182€ per month) and not being allowed to work during that time. Of course they end up committing crimes more often in such a situation, it’s not because they are bad people.
Gewalttaten nehmen drastisch zu: Zahl tatverdächtiger Ausländer springt nach oben - n-tv.de - https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Zahl-tatverdaechtiger-Auslaender-springt-nach-oben-article24858209.html
Das kann viele Gründe haben. Rassismus in der Polizei ist nur einer davon. Heißt immer noch nicht, dass Flüchtlinge generell schlechte Menschen wären.
edit: hast du deinen Artikel eigentlich selbst gelesen?
Die überproportional vielen Ausländer unter den einer Straftat Beschuldigten erklären Soziologen und Kriminologen mit verschiedenen Ursachen. So sind die meisten Zuwanderer junge Männer, die in jeder Kriminalitätsstatistik auffällig stark vertreten sind. Hinzu kommen die bei Ausländern in Deutschland besonders oft schwierige soziale Lage und womöglich eigene Gewalterfahrungen im Herkunftsland oder während der Flucht nach Deutschland, die die Hemmschwelle zur Gewaltanwendung sinken ließen.
Zudem passierten viele Straftaten in Ausländerunterkünften und in deren Umfeld, wo einerseits die Unterbringungssituation extrem angespannt ist, andererseits Polizei und Wachschutz besonders präsent sind. Ferner haben Soziologen aufgezeigt, dass die Anzeigebereitschaft deutlich höher ist gegenüber Menschen, die als nicht zugehörig zur eigenen Gruppe wahrgenommen werden.
Das Bundeskriminalamt hält aber auch fest: Der Anteil der einer Straftat Beschuldigten unter allen Ausländern ist im vergangenen Jahr sogar gesunken Weil aber zugleich deutlich mehr Ausländer in Deutschland leben, ist die absolute Zahl ausländischer Straftäter dennoch gestiegen. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen Zuwanderung und Anzahl registrierter Straftaten ist damit offensichtlich.
Unfassbar guter Journalismus daraus so eine Überschrift herbeizudichten…
Bad news, Germany, because immigration is about to increase because of climate change.
Right-wing media has really done a number on critical thinking.
Right-wing media has really done a number on critical thinking.
Correlation is not cause and effect.
It’s more likely that the lack of critical thinking was there in the first place and served as the soil for right wing media to sink its roots into.
Ameribro here. I’ve hosted a German exchange kid. She was really, really worried about immigration and “preserving German culture”. I pointed out to her that:
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Culture is not a fixed thing, it’s always drifting a little bit, with or without immigrants. That’s why old people always complain about how different everything is.
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Germany is actually younger than the US as a state by about a century, and contemporary Germany has really only existed since either the end of WW2 or the fall of the Soviet Union, depending on your view. (IMO, the collapse of East Germany is non-trivial. Her mom was an East German and described to us how they had an entirely separate culture with different groceries and everything and all that just vaporized into nothing when the wall fell, replaced with West German culture almost overnight). So, what does it really even mean to be defending German culture?
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There’s always hardship when a new group of people arrive, but over time you usually end up with something that’s better than what you had before if you can learn to embrace it. US culture has, in spite of our issues with racism, tangibly benefitted from immigration over the centuries.
She wasn’t receptive to it. A lot of Europeans who hold anti-immigratiom views insist that it’s different for Europe when they have immigrants than it is for the US. I’ve yet to have one persuasively explain why that’s true and not just whiny exceptionalism.
Preserving German culture and worrying about immigration - you had an AfD or nazi kid in your home.
an AfD or nazi kid in your home
Mostly the same thing.
Agreed.
I mostly agree with your conclusion, but this is a very american (I.e. ignorant) response to her concern and i am not surprised she wasnt receptive. I think you underestimate the difference between a country like yours (which has always been a ‘salad bowl’ of cultures united by a commitment to liberalism) and mine (Germany, which is essentially a big tribe of tribes). This difference is even more stark if you look at a place like Denmark.
Here are a few of your points that gave me this impression:
Germany is actually younger than the US
Her concern is (to me) obviously independent of the state we happen to live under. Germaneness is not tied to a political entity. East Germans were German, Volga Germans are German and the German speaking people under the hre were German. (“German” Americans are not German btw.) This also makes your comment about
Her mom was an East German and described to us how they had an entirely separate culture
baffling (to me).
US culture has, … tangibly benefitted from immigration over the centuries.
The us is in many ways a much worse country than Germany (or almost any EU country). I don’t see why we should strive to emulate that model.
The us is in many ways a much worse country than Germany (or almost any EU country). I don’t see why we should strive to emulate that model.
Besides the point. Immigration does not necessarily lead to “bad” legislation.
Culture is identity. Isn’t that obvious from looking at different people all over the world? It is true, there is a clash of cultures because everyone is proud of their identity. Nationalism is extremely powerful because it is human instinct to look upon kinship. Humans are social animals.
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I’m in the weird position of wanting both - closed borders and a reversal of climate change, so the next election is going to be interesting for me. They seem to be mutually exclusive in party programs
I’m in the weird position of wanting both - closed borders and a reversal of climate change
then I guess the weird epiteth of “enlightened idiot” fully applies to you
I mean, wanting regulations for immigration is a valid political opinion, no? It’s not something that is inherently extreme right. It’s just hard to find a party catering to both because of the modern Kulturkampf.
Most people aren’t migrating of their own volition but fleeing war and famine. People I’ve seen advocating for “regulations for immigration” would rather have those people dying of hunger or exposure at their borders instead of letting them in.
Yeah, those people exist. I’m not one of them, but I can still see how someone would want their country to be a little less open about immigration. It can be comforting if people are a bit more like you, I guess.
Eliminate all borders and let any humam on earth live anywhere on the planet they want to.
Yet, in typical European fashion they would much much much rather interpret “reduce immigration” to mean “be mean to poor people here” than to mean “help stabilize developing nations and allow their economies to grow without squeezing them out using our country’s dominant economic position (so people don’t become economic migrants) and without support for bombing them every other decade (so people don’t become war refugees)”, which of course includes “address climate change (so people don’t become climate refugees)”.
No upstream thinking, just fascism fascism fascism.
The article does not address any of that, it’s your interpretation. I would like lower immigration into my country and that absolutely requires raising other countries up economically and preventing war and climate catastrophe. This was just a survey on what issues people are concerned about. It did not ask for solutions.
Yea right, I’m sure AfD voters are all for raising up other countries.
Buddy, I’m Greek. I know first hand what German right wingers think of “irresponsible southerners”. So far up their righteous asses that expending economic resources for a European country that basically buys everything Germany produces was too hard for them to swallow. Don’t tell me they would not turn uber-protectionist the moment helping some brown people place comes up.
Funny that you’re Greek. I recently had a conversation with the middle aged son of Greek migrants where he complained that the suburb he grew up in changed because of the later wave of migrants from elsewhere. No self awareness at all.
He integrated successfully.
Anyone have an understanding of how much migration Germany has lately? Is this all still a hang over from the Syrian refugee intake under Merkel? Is Germany a favoured destination generally within Europe? Or are Germans just “sensitive” about darker coloured people (which would be a bit odd given the Turkish migration that occurred after the war, unless that never went well either)?
I’m a German and I don’t really notice much of it. The region I’m in already has quite a lot of people that aren’t “traditionally German” and behave differently and speak languages other than German in public, it can be a little weird or unsettling sometimes, but many of them have good reasons sto stay here and immigration benefits society in the end I believe, also what is normal anyways. Maybe I just don’t worry about it as many others in our nation apperently do?
Maybe I just don’t worry about it as many others in our nation apperently do?
Well the polls would suggest that.
it can be a little weird or unsettling sometimes
I find this striking. Some places just aren’t used to major migration events, and from this it seems to be true for Germany and even you however accepting you are. And not to be an immigration absolutist about it, but Europe might benefit from realising how common migration is elsewhere in the world.
germans being racist and xenophobic? shocker.
If you are starting to like a European, especially a German, make sure to ask them their opinions on Syrians and Turks. Their answers may surprise you!
They sure as fuck surprised me 😰
I, as a German, once asked Syrian and Turkish friends on their opinion on Jews. Their answer “The only thing Hitler did wrong was not finishing the job.” sure surprised me as did other really shitty experiences with non-friends from the same Region.
Do I hate Syrians and Turks now? No, because I’m not a fucking asshole that generalizes whole groups of people.
My favorite thing about arguing with racist Europeans is that they are CONVINCED they aren’t racist, even though they literally just told me that Syrians are disgusting people who need to go home. Or this totally true story you just said.
You have no basis to make a claim about the poster you’re respinding to. Not good faith
[email protected] (Nomen est omen?) removed any doubt you might have had about his character with this last comment.
He’s also the type of person who hears a radio alert about a wrong way driver on the Autobahn and thinks “One? There are thousands (and all of them are racists)!”
