As an avid reader of this blog, you have learned that Germany has a higher percentage of immigrants that they taught in school or reported on the news.
You can find several posts on the subject on this blog by searching for immigration or migrants.
Immigration numbers for 2012 were as follows: about 1 million new arrivals, about 600 000 departures, resulting in a net influx of about 400 000.
Government policies and public perception of immigration have been slow to change from the traditional model to modern reality.
Not very long ago, you'd get on a boat or a train and your old country might never again have seen you. These days, many people go back and forth, and statisticians try to keep track not only of the net influx but also try to get an idea of how long people stay on average.
About 40% leave within a year or so, it seems.
The reasons advanced by experts are varied, but one important aspect appears to be that many immigrants are highly educated, not - as we Americans might say - "warm bodies", that cheap source of labor the previous crop of immigrants looks down on.
In the last few years, immigrants to Germany have, on average, been better educated than the existing population.
While the German government would like to see as many as possible stay, Europeans have finally started to move in record numbers between the various EU countries. This part of the promise of the EU -- do away with the old restrictions -- almost failed to materialize but it is finally picking up steam.
Unfortunately, this is occurring at a time when some of the preferred destinations, like the UK, are looking at slowing down immigration in order to solve unemployment and housing problems.
Still, our resident compulsive country hopper says: I feel privileged to be in Europe during this period.
We don't know if it will last.
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