This world is a strange place. Everything can never be summed up in few lines. Immigrants and refugees have their own problems and so the people of the host country have their own. There are many reasons of this situations but the over population is the most strong one. Now, we are more than seven billions. Every person needs lots of space besides food, clothing, water and shelter. We cannot live like animals who can survive if they are given food and water. So, for this large number of people you need more space. To provide food, shelter and other amenities, we have to cut the more space, which is becoming a vicious cycle.
Wars, conflicts, political and social problems, economic crises etc are forcing people to take shelter in comparatively thinly populated but economically strong countries. Western countries are natural attraction on account of these traits.
But the problems of the citizens of these countries are equally big. When immigrants and refugees enter a country it generates problems of low and order. These people need to be fed. They need water, shelter and proper space to live. These arrangements put a heavy burden on the governments. So, the citizens of the host countries also have to bear their taxes being used for someone else instead of themselves. It makes them angry and frustrated.
When a person comes from different background where social values are mostly based on primitive thought, it creates a lot of problem. He tries to save himself from the influence of the alien culture and in this course he tends to see everything in the view of his cultural identity. He becomes more devoted towards his culture and religious beliefs. It also makes him more fundamentalists and some people begin to follow their culture and religion more vigorously and become loud in their outlook. This thing disturbs the behavior of the hosts.
In India I have seen that people have changed a lot. Few decades ago there were not many differences in the dresses and get-ups of the Hindus and Muslims. But from some years people are associating themselves with their religions more aggressively. When Muslims began to visit Saudi Arabia quite frequently for haj and came back here, their outlook began to change. Now, you can see many young Muslims with beards and cleaned moustaches, short pyjamas and skull caps. Their women’s ‘burka’ is becoming more opaque and thick. Also, Hindus have changed a lot. They have begun visiting temples regularly and they are applying ‘tilak’-a red dot over forehead, wearing religious symbols etc a lot. Now, differences between both communities are becoming unfathomable gaps. Why this is happening? Instead of becoming more liberal people are becoming more fundamental.
Before beginning of Islamic revolution Iran was as modern as other western countries. Afghanistan was also progressive but after Soviet invasion, this country changed a lot. This all happened because it was filled in the minds of the Muslims youngsters that true Islam doesn’t favor western things. They fought against Russian invasion in the name of religion, not in the name of democracy or independence. Now, they have rekindled the vision of pan-Islamic world in which every nook and corner of the world will be ruled by one Khalifa and Shariya laws will be applied in place of modern laws. ISIS, Boko Haram and other Islamic groups are working in this direction. You can reject their theory of Wahabism but they are constantly working on this direction.
When ISIS brutally killed and tortured Yedizi people, no one came to help them. UNO behaved liked an impotent organization. It did nothing to stop mass genocide of Yedizis and raping of their women and little children.
Even other religious groups like Hindus and Christians have their own agenda. Hindus are becoming aggressive day by day in India. Christian, especially Roman Catholic want every person on this earth to adopt Christianity. No one is innocent. However, I have seen that people of every religious faith can co-exist in a single place but Islam is different. Islam is not only a religion but also a political and social system. It has its own ideology which don’t let its follower to be true democratic. So, any religious fundamentalists must not be allowed to spread hatred and fear.
So, in my view we need to consider this problem rationally. Emotional attitude can never solve this issue. I am not fully agreed what the person whom you mentioned expressed. We cannot disallow people to assimilate. We should also not confine ourselves to the air tight compartments. Cultural assimilation is very vital for the welfare of the humanity. It has been the factor of progress of humanity and will always be. I think a religion free world is a solution. We should not allow any religion to impose restriction on humanity. Any restriction or law should be rational and should bring justice for all, otherwise it should be rejected. Also, we should encourage people of poor countries to adopt family planning. Families should be small and number of persons should not be burden on this earth. In this way these types of problems can be solved.