Germany's SPD: "We need a multi-billion-euro package to integrate refugees in Germany"

You can't integrate oil into Water.

Germany's SPD: "We need a multi-billion-euro package to integrate refugees in Germany". (DS).

Germany needs to raise spending on police, education and daycare by at least 5 billion euros ($5.45 billion) to successfully integrate a record number of asylum seekers and avoid social tensions, its deputy government leader said Monday.

Speaking after a meeting of senior Social Democrats (SPD), the coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin must avoid social strife in light of the rising numbers of mainly Muslim refugees.

"We can only manage the double task of integration, namely accommodating the new arrivals and also preserving the cohesion of our society, if we have a strong state capable of acting," said Gabriel, SPD party leader and economy minister.

He called for a joint effort by the federal and state governments as well as municipalities to share the task of integrating the hundreds of thousands of refugees whose asylum applications are approved.

"We need an additional 9,000 police in Germany, 25,000 new teachers and 15,000 daycare workers," Gabriel said. He also called for a doubling of funds for public housing to avoid a shortage of affordable housing in urban areas.

"The costs for this integration package are around five billion euros and government, federal states and municipalities have to agree on who exactly will do what."

His proposal is likely to be approved at a planned summit of federal and state governments in the coming months. Hmmm........Good luck with that one. Read the full story here.