Merkel Says Open Door for Refugees Closes and Reverses at End of Syrian War

Seeking to stem the growing opposition to her open-door policy for refugees fleeing from the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, and the Syrian civil war, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that those who sought refuge in Germany will be sent home once the respective conflicts end. Merkel’s political opposition has been demanding that the influx of refugees be stopped immediately, with about 1.1 million so far having been allowed into the country. Speaking to a branch of her political party, the chancellor stressed that those who have been allowed in have only been given temporary status and tried to use the historical argument that 70% of the refugees from Yugoslavia who came to Germany in the 1990s left the country and eventually returned home.