German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy is being questioned by an increasing number of members of her own CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party. The most prominent being Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. According to magazine “Der Spiegel”, he said at a recent meeting of the party that the mood of party members on the refugee crisis issue is quite bad.

Bavaria's Finance Minister Markus Söder from the Bavarian CSU (Christian Social Union), Told “Bild” that how the government deals with the refugee crisis is of "fundamental importance for the future of the parties (CDU and its sister-party, the Bavarian CSU). Internal security is the core issue… Therefore, the CDU and CSU have to come together."

Bavaria’s Premier Horst Seehofer has also criticised the government’s refugee policy on numerous occasions.   Seehofer believes the chancellor's policies are causing the rise of the euroskeptic AfD party and xenophobic Pegida groups.

Right-wing violence in Germany has seen a sharp rise in the past few weeks. The country's security officials warned Thursday that asylum-seekers, those who help them and pro-immigrant politicians could become targets of xenophobic crimes, according to the newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and German public broadcasters WDR and NRD and other sources.

Meanwhile Merkel holds her course. Today she repeated that it is important to integrate refugees into German society quickly. She pointed out the role of the refugees learning the German language, them receiving job training and the children to be enrolled in schools. At the same time the asylum process in Germany is being tightened and procedures and decision-making in the field is being sped up. This means that asylum-seekers from “safe” countries will be returned there quicker if they don’t meet criteria.

This should mean that hundreds of thousands asylum-seekers from the Balkan Region (Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, etc.) could be sent back home soon.