The people who are still somehow running the German government with no trouble at all, would probably like to thank the German people for having been ‘so understanding and kind’ as to have accepted a mere 300,000 migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. They mean actually 600,000. No, wait, they mean 800,000. No, hold on, 920,000. Oh, not quite, more like 1.5 million. No, just kidding, they’d like to thank the German people for accepting 7.36 million migrants.

Seriously:

The Australian, ‘Angela Merkel hit by leaked forecast of 1.5 million migrants’, 07 Oct 2015 (emphasis added):

Chancellor Angela Mer­kel is facing open dissent from members of her coalition government amid predictions that the number of migrants arriving in Germany this year could reach 1.5 million.

The figure — almost double the official forecasts — added to the impression Ms Merkel had lost control of the issue amid polls showing her popularity ratings, which had defied gravity for so long, were beginning to plummet.

Ms Merkel has refused to talk about limits to the number of refugees Germany can accommodate but Sigmar Gabriel, her deputy and the leader of the Social Democratic party, has declared that the time has come to reduce arrivals.

The new estimate of 1.5 million came in a confidential government paper leaked to the newspaper Bild. It is widely believed the source of the leak was the interior ministry.

The secret document said each refugee had a “family factor” of four to eight people, meaning they could be expected to arrange for up to eight relatives to join them once settled in Germany, as they were entitled to do if granted refugee status. As Bild pointed out, this could mean that 7.36 million eventually arrived as a result of this year’s influx. Germany’s population is now 80 million.

“We believe that in the fourth quarter of the year there will be between 7000 and 10,000 illegal border crossings every day,” the document stated.

“These high figures for asylum-seekers threaten to put extreme pressure on the (German) states and communities.”

The document put a figure on potential arrivals from October to December of 920,000, Bild said. In contrast to some expert views, it did not foresee a reduction during the winter months despite the harsher weather and more difficult travelling conditions.

Fewer asylum-seekers were expected from the Balkan states after Germany’s information campaign to deter people from that region but an increase was foreseen from conflict zones, especially Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere called last week for annual limits on refugees and proposed that any arrivals above the quota should be sent to somewhere safe in their region.

He added these were his personal views and not those of the government.

He is seen as one of Ms Merkel’s closest advisers and she later praised his work while refusing to place a limit on migrant numbers. Now she also faces open dissent from Mr Gabriel.

“We must urgently achieve a clear reduction in the number of refugees in the coming year in Germany,” the deputy chancellor told Suddeutsche Zeitung.

He added: “We must also think about the cohesion of German ­society.”

Ms Merkel’s stance towards asylum-seekers is said to have made her a contender for this year’s Nobel peace prize, which will be announced on Friday, but it has also led to the shine coming off her popular support.

A poll last week showed that her personal support rating had fallen to 54 per cent, down nine points in a month.

Thousands took to the streets of the eastern city of Dresden yesterday, accusing Ms Merkel of “crimes against the German ­people” and “treason”.

“It won’t stop with 1.5 or two million,” said Lutz Bachmann, the co-founder of the anti-Islam ­PEGIDA movement, which organised the march. “They will have their wives come, and one, two, three children. It is an impossible task to integrate these people.”

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the EU to consider a no-fly zone and safe haven area in Syria during talks to address Europe’s migrant crisis.

Speaking after discussions in Brussels, Mr Erdogan said Turkey was bearing the brunt of the crisis and pressed the bloc to act against “state-sponsored terrorism” in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime battles rebels and militants.

The EU said Turkey must do more to stop the flow of refugees who have landed on its shores. “It is indisputable that Europe has to manage its borders better. We expect Turkey to do the same,” the EU president, Donald Tusk, said.

The “root cause” of the refugee crisis was the “state-sponsored terrorism actually carried out by Assad himself,” Mr Erdogan said, saying three things needed to be done to end the crisis.

“One is to focus on training and equipment, the second is to declare a safe zone that would be protected from terrorism and the third is a no-fly zone,” Mr Erdogan said.

Western officials had previously cast doubt on the Turkish proposals for a no-fly “safe zone” in northern Syria where refugees could take shelter from the bloody conflict.

Brussels and Ankara also reportedly discussed a European Commission plan that would see Turkey join Greek coastguard pat­rols in the eastern Aegean, co-­ordinated by EU border agency Frontex. Any migrants picked up would be taken back to Turkey where six new camps for up to two million people would be built, co-financed by the EU.

The Times, AFP

But actually, are they ready for the next iteration, which is 9.6 million if the upper bound estimate for this year is hit? Or perhaps next year, when the number might push toward 18 million potentially showing up? Because no one has been talking about next year yet.

With numbers like this, it really could become possible that 20% of Germany’s population will be Middle Eastern and North African, which is an incredibly rapid change.

#ProjectGermany is not a nation-state. It’s an idea, it’s a proposition nation based on the idea of unlimited Christian charity, and absolutely stupid amounts of naive liberalism. Also, lots of guilt.

#ProjectGermany is not a place where Germans live, it’s an idea.