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How Angela Merkel’s great migrant gamble paid off
Five years ago, as more and more refugees crossed into Europe, Germany’s chancellor proclaimed, ‘We’ll manage this.’
Critics said it was her great mistake – but she has been proved right
- Philip Oltermann
- The Guardian
Mohammad Hallak found the key to unlock the mysteries of his new homeland when he realised you could switch the subtitles on your Netflix account to German.
The 21-year-old Syrian from Aleppo jotted down words he didn’t know, increased his vocabulary and quickly became fluent.
Last year, he passed his end of high school exams with a grade of 1.5, the top mark in his year group.
Five years to the…