Germany: Merkel Now Against Niqab, Shifts Right Before Election

Yielding to the pressure of the country's increasingly vocal racist sectors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel started exploiting Tuesday the refugee crisis in a bid to secure a victory for the next presidential elections, setting down a tough line on integration including a ban on the niqab full-face veil.

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She also stressed it was legitimate for Germany to expect newcomers to integrate, and this included a rejection of the niqab.

"The full veil must be banned wherever it is legally possible," she told the annual gathering of her center-right Christian Democratic Union, urging them to back her bid for a fourth term.

Merkel was rewarded with a standing ovation that lasted more than 11 minutes as the majority of the 1,001 delegates present rallied behind her.

Merkel, who has led Germany for 11 years, last month confirmed she would run for a fourth term but acknowledged that the election would be "more difficult" than any other she has contested.

The CDU has seen setbacks in five consecutive state polls as fear-mongering and anti-refugee rhetoric has punished Merkel for her liberal refugee policy.

Her comments mark a radical shift after constantly maintaining a welcoming policy for refugees and migrants, at least in speeches.

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Merkel has been one of the only European leaders who has been a vocal supporter of war refugees and Muslims despite growing racism in the region. After New Year's Eve sexual attacks in Cologne, she vowed not to change Germany's open-door policies, to "stick to our principles" and to "give shelter to those who need it."

Meanwhile, the refugee crisis has played into the hands of the right-wing opposition party Alternative for Germany, whose support is now in the double digits in the last regional polls held in March; arson attacks on refugee centers and sometimes violent protests have become increasingly common. While many Germans have welcomed the new arrivals, a growing number claim the country cannot cope with integration and fear losing their identity.

Yet according to a recent Oxfam report, most Western countries, including Germany, have taken in a very small percentage of asylum seekers, with the majority seeking shelter in developing countries such as Turkey and Lebanon.

According to the Migration Policy Institute Europe, Germany has recently implemented several important changes to its immigration and asylum policy such as delaying family reunifications for some refugees for up to two years, making it harder for refugees to obtain permanent residency and shortening temporary resident permits.

The recent modifications also include a shift from offering full and categorical refugee status based on nationality to case-by-case determinations.

Last year about one million refugees entered Germany, many from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, making the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.