German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at a convention on Monday, reportedly said multiculturalism is a sham and that Germany had reached its limit in accepting migrants.
"The challenge is immense. We want and we will reduce the number of refugees noticeably," Merkel added. She believes that multiculturalism leads to parallel societies and therefore, remains a lie, according to the Washington Post.
Five years ago, voicing similar sentiments, Merkel had said: "Multiculturalism has utterly failed in Germany."
"Of course the tendency had been to say, 'Let's adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side, and be happy to be living with each other.' But this concept has failed, and failed utterly," Merkel said.
On Monday, she repeated the same sentences, trying to calm her supporters who have been jittery over the influx of refugees. According to the German Chancellor, newcomers should assimilate to German values and culture, and should respect the country's laws.
She said, "It is a historical test for Europe. Other countries in Europe should accept more refugees to take some of the burden off Germany," as stated in the report.
Many Germans expect the migrants to quickly learn the national language and assimilate into their communities and work life, Washington Post said. Christian Democratic Union overwhelmingly approved her refugee policy.
For Merkel, multiculturalism is a symbol of isolated societies within Germany -- failure in assimilating immigrants. Approximately one million refugees made their way into Germany this year, most of them are currently being accommodated in makeshift housing, the Washington Post stated. There is a profound fear about the country's ability to deal with the influx of migrants.
Her speech was welcomed by her supporters, who continued to clap for nine minutes, which had to be interrupted by Merkel, Washington Post report said.
Merkel is being praised by people from across the world for her migrant policies. She has also been named as the 'Person of the year' by Time magazine.
