Frank-Jürgen Weise, the head of the Federal office for migrants and refugees BAMF, said that Germany’s healthy economy and improvements to refugee services over the past year meant the country was well placed to absorb new arrivals, particularly as their numbers have dropped off.
“We are preparing for between 250,000 and 300,000 refugees this year,” he said. “We can ensure optimal services for up to 300,000. Should more people arrive, it would put us under pressure, then we would go into so-called crisis mode. But even then we would not have conditions like last year.”
The closure of the so-called Balkan migrant trail and an EU deal with Turkey to keep refugees from reaching Greece – a main entry point into the bloc – has driven down arrivals from the Middle East and Afghanistan.
BAMF had made major strides in working through a large backlog in asylum claims but that it would not manage to clear the remaining 530,000 cases by the end of the year. To integrate those allowed to stay in Germany into the labour market would be a lengthy and costly process.
Around 1.5 million refugees have arrived in Germany in the last 10 months. Around 75 per cent of them are under the age of 30, and most of them are male. Only around 2 per cent of the migrants speak German, and only a few have any professional qualifications or even a proper education. Most of them also want to earn money as quickly as possible. It’s hard to make them understand that without proper training that meets German standards, they’re unlikely to find a good job.
Around 1.5 million refugees have arrived in Germany in the last 10 months. Around 75 per cent of them are under the age of 30, and most of them are male. Only around 2 per cent of the migrants speak German, and only a few have any professional qualifications or even a proper education
Experience shows that in their first year in Germany, only 8 per cent of asylum seekers manage to find work. Even the chancellor has complained that big companies are much too hesitant to take on refugees. Around 100 German companies have joined efforts in an initiative known as “Wir zusammen” (Us Together), but so far they have only managed to find jobs for 450 refugees. Merkel is now openly addressing the problem. At a refugee conference in mid-September, she appealed to the executives of top German firms to make more training opportunities and jobs available to refugees.
The study by the Berlin institute shows that, more than simply referring refugees to job opportunities, what really helps is initiatives where citizens take time for refugees – as well as better cooperation between the various initiatives. One surprising result of the study: Around 60 per cent of all the jobs for refugees arose out of personal networks of friends and acquaintances. Only around 20 per cent were the result of state work placement efforts. And both researcher Klingholz and trainer Kornatzki agree that the most important instrument of all in the job search and successful integration remains the ability to speak German.