Almost Half of Germans in Hesse Don’t Believe Migrants Will Adapt to Local Culture

A new poll conducted in the German region of Hesse shows that despite the slowdown in migrants over the last year a majority want a limit on migrants and almost half don’t believe they will adapt to local rules.

The poll, commissioned by Hessian Rundfunk and conducted by Hessentrend, was published Monday and shows deep social division on the subject of migration in the region. The people of Hesse, where the German financial capital of Frankfurt is located, still show a great concern over the potential of another surge of migrants and many believe that integration efforts are not working, FOCUS Online reports.

Fifty-nine per cent of those who took the survey said they wanted to see Germany implement a limit on the number of migrants who can apply for asylum each year.

The Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), the ally and sister party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have made the issue of a migrant ceiling a potential deal breaker on forming a coalition government after the federal elections later this year.

Almost half of the respondents, some 47 per cent, said that they didn’t believe that newly arrived migrants would respect the local rules and way of life in the area. This figure is only two per cent less than last year showing that most Germans in the region have not substantially changed their minds despite the decrease in the number of migrants arriving over a twelve month period.

Many have argued that mass migration and multiculturalism will bring enrichment to the lives of people in countries like Germany but 40 per cent of those surveyed claimed they didn’t see migrants enriching their lives at all.

Thirty-three per cent also fear that migrants will be a burden on the labour market in the long term, which is something that some economists have also claimed.  An economic report from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg last summer said the long-term impact of mass migration could damage the economies of European countries like Germany and Sweden.

Crime is also a major concern for Hessians as 52 per cent of respondents believed that mass migration would likely increase the amount of crime in the area. In neighbouring Austria, migrant perpetrated sex crimes have increased 133 per cent over the last year.

One-third of Hessians, 36 per cent, also think that mass migration could greatly impact their way of life in a negative manner.

Polls in Germany have largely shown a negative reaction to the mass migration policies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the course of the past year. The rise of the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) and their electoral success in local elections many suggest they will have a strong showing in the German federal election later this year, likely at the expense of Merkel’s CDU.

 Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart.com