Talk about the exacerbation of the refugee crisis in Europe, recognized by the European Commission as the most serious since the Second World War, does not stop. At the same time, Germany is considered the EU state that has taken the main blow of the "refugee wave".
According to the German Ministry of Internal Affairs, last year the country sheltered more than a million migrants - people seeking asylum. This is twice as much as the previous year. The UN called the situation unacceptable when one country makes the main efforts to receive migrants. What is the situation with migrants in Germany in 2016?
Why are they longing here?
Germany for migrants is one of the most desirable countries. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Germany, last year about 1.1 million refugees were registered in the country. Of these, a significant part are Syrians (428.5 thousand people).
The most attractive are the general economic level of the country and the level of social guarantees provided by migrants in Germany.
From the history of the issue
The theme “Germany: migrants” has deep historical and economic roots. The German economy has not been able to do without migrant workers since the post-war boom. The country needs labor and “young blood”. The reason is the presence of a demographic crisis and clear signs of an aging population.
Country with controlled immigration
Most of the migrant workers of the 50s returned home to Southern and Southeast Europe, but many remained in Germany, so that it turned from a "migrant workers' country" into a country with controlled immigration.
In the 80s in Germany, only at the expense of the Turks, as well as Germans, after the collapse of the communist system, returning from the territory of the former Soviet Union, Poland and Romania, the percentage of immigrants per capita exceeded the figures of immigrant countries: USA, Canada and Australia.
Until 2015, more than 7 million migrants lived in Germany, which is about 9% of the population. This also includes 1.5 million foreigners who have received citizenship, and about 4.5 million immigrants. It turns out that every sixth resident of Germany immigrated here or comes from a family of migrants.
Migrants in Germany: life after moving
Migrant workers are mainly used as unskilled labor, as Germany was recruited primarily for simple jobs. Some are used as skilled workers, and only a few manage to get a profession that involves the availability of relatively high qualifications. According to research, it is not easy for families of German migrants to improve their financial situation or climb the social ladder.
Nevertheless, some progress has been achieved in the issue of migrant integration over the past decades: the law introduces simplifications in acquiring German citizenship, contacts between newcomers and indigenous people have become more intense, and the positive perception of ethnic and cultural diversity by indigenous people has intensified. The adoption of the new immigration law for the first time provided a broad legal framework governing all areas of migration policy.
Migrant rights
Migrants in Germany live according to the rules in force in the country:
- the initial 3 months (during this period the application is considered) refugees are provided with shelter, food, clothing and medical care free of charge;
- a separate article provides for the issuance of "pocket money" to cover personal needs (per month 143 euros per person);
- after leaving the reception centers, migrants in Germany today receive approximately 287-359 euros per month, in addition, they are entitled to 84 euros for children under 6 years of age;
- refugees are entitled to receive social housing paid by the German authorities.
On social and economic challenges
Organizing the reception that migrants in Germany receive on such a scale is no easy task. The reception and integration of such a significant number of refugees presents enormous economic and social challenges. The country needs to invest significant funds in education, training, job creation, which would help to cope with the challenges of the future. Affordable housing and an efficient public infrastructure are also needed.
Figures
In 2015, migrants in Germany received a total of 21 billion euros - so much the state invested in their arrangement and integration, and in 2016-2017. they will spend at least 50 billion on these goals. Of course, Germany is not a poor country, but these sums could be used to raise the living standards of their own people.
Future expenses of the country
Until 2020, the state will have to spend a total of approximately 93.6 billion euros to ensure the life of migrants in Germany. This information was published by Spiegel weekly and is based on estimates from the Ministry of Finance prepared for negotiations with representatives of the federal states.
The calculations contain the costs of accommodation and language courses, integration, social security for visitors, to overcome the reasons for their migration to Europe. In 2016, these goals will require about 16.1 billion, in 2020, the annual expenses of migrants will increase to 20.4 billion euros.
The federal states will have to spend 21 billion euros on migrants in 2016. By 2020, their annual expenses will increase to 30 billion.
Dual situation
The country, which has become the most attractive for migrants, has a rather ambiguous situation. On the one hand, due to the demographic crisis and the aging of the population, the country continues to need so-called “young blood” and additional labor. The influx of migrants is necessary to maintain the social system and economy. According to the head of the Federal Labor Agency, approximately 70% of refugees who arrived in Germany are people of working age.
On the other hand, according to forecasts, only 10% of them will be able to find work in 5 years, and 50% in 10.
The official noted in a conversation with representatives of the media that refugees could not be eliminated the lack of skilled labor in the country. When looking for a job, the question of insufficient knowledge of the language will certainly arise, problems with recognition of certificates and diplomas, etc. will surely arise. The problem of labor integration of migrants is still solvable, the Interior Minister said. More effective coordination of migrant integration programs proposed by various departments of the country is needed.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this year about 400 thousand refugees will attend integration courses, which is twice as high as in 2015. It is only about migrants who are capable of integration in the labor market and are ready to accept European standards of behavior. In reality, most of the refugees hope to live off social benefits, that is, using taxpayers' funds. This causes a protest among many indigenous people.
About "international duty"
The topic “Refugees, Migrants: Germany” is complicated by the fact that German society fears the slightest accusations of xenophobia and racism, which is associated with the memory of the horrors of the Second World War. For this reason, xenophobic and anti-immigrant movements here at first did not get as wide as in some European countries. The media and political elites in Germany are actively imposing a “positive image” of the refugee on the citizens and trying to impress the average citizen - Michel, Hans or Fritz - that helping his newcomers is his "international duty."
Features of modern integration
For a European, the commonplace truths enshrined in the German Constitution and forming the foundation of her society - human dignity, equality between men and women, freedom of conscience and religion, personal integrity, etc. - are obvious. Arriving from the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, they are completely not perceived. Personal integrity and freedom of conscience in these countries are understood as the freedom to prosecute and destroy the “infidels,” that is, representatives of other religions. Migrants vividly demonstrated their understanding of the equal rights of men and women in Cologne on New Year's Eve, when approximately a thousand young Arabs and North Africans staged a German sex hunt.
According to analysts, the integration of migrants into society will be the most difficult task that has ever faced the country.
About the problem of anti-Semitism
Today in Germany the highest public politeness is considered to be a public statement that in the modern world terror comes from adherents of Islam. Although everyone knows that for decades these people have been influenced by growing aggressive anti-Semitism. Hatred of the Jews is preached and escalated in social networks, newspapers, on television and in textbooks.
Last October, the President of the Council of Jews of Germany, Joseph Schuster, expressed to the Chancellor his extreme concern about the endless influx of refugees from Muslim countries into the country, where anti-Semitism is state policy.
In January this year, speaking at the opening of the Holocaust Art exhibition, Merkel admitted that “anti-Semitism in Germany is indeed more prevalent” than one could imagine. And the Germans "are obliged to actively resist it."
The chancellor’s recognition of the problem turned out to be sufficient for the president of the Central Commission for Central Administration to announce on the capital’s radio that the Jews have nothing to fear, most Jewish objects in the country are provided with reliable protection. Nevertheless, caution should be exercised in some areas and do not advertise your origin ”(?!)
There is a growing understanding in society that stricter policies are needed for migrants.
On the immediate deportation of migrant criminals
The theme of the life of migrants in Germany has an aspect that can be formulated as follows: "Germany, migrants, riots." The number of supporters of the immediate expulsion from the country of visitors who have violated the law has increased.
In Germany, there is a rule stipulating that a migrant may be in a local prison for three years before his deportation. Obviously, such a fate of visitors does not scare. There is a need to revise this rule, they say in society. Refugees who violate the law must be deported from the country immediately. According to experts, the overgrown migrant community has turned into a favorable breeding ground for crime and international terrorism.
Authorities hid migrant crimes
According to analysts, the sensational incident in Cologne, when on New Year's Eve, residents of the city were subjected to an organized attack by Arab migrants and Syrians, who, being in a state of drugs and alcohol and intoxication, began to provoke conflicts with the local police, rob passers-by and rape German women, was not the only one in Germany. Migrants have repeatedly violated the rule of law.
Cases of systematic violation of the law by migrants have been known for a long time. But they were not publicly disclosed - before the incident, which could no longer be hidden.
New racism?
The mayor of Cologne proposed the introduction of a specific “code of conduct” for women: she recommended that Germans dress more modestly, not walk alone and try to stay away from male refugees at arm's length.
The proposal was met in Germany by a storm of indignation. German bloggers began to publish archival photographs of German women who hold their right hand outstretched in a Nazi salute. This is how Germans can raise their hands to protect themselves from migrants, bloggers explained.
Many immigrants who have long arrived in the country express fears that now they will fall into shadow because of the crimes of newly arrived refugees. A night in Cologne ended German hospitality and hospitality, they say. They were replaced by a new type of racism. It can affect all migrants who came to the country at different times.
Germany against migrants
After the riots in several cities, the situation in Germany grew tense. A wave of demonstrations and rallies swept against the migration policies of Merkel’s cabinet. The Germans organize self-defense patrols to protect against arrivals. Attacks on "outsiders" have become more frequent in the country.
The problem of migrants in Germany has grown to the scale of the European crisis. The country with the strongest economy in the EU cannot handle the situation.
Instead of recognizing the evidence of the refugee problem, the authorities accuse the provocations of German radicals, supposedly fascist youths trying to discredit migrants. But the Germans do not believe this. German intelligence agencies do not rule out that the unrest in the country is not organized by radicals, but by members of the Islamic State, who are groping for weaknesses in the European law enforcement system.
The consequences of the broad gesture of the Chancellor
The theme of the life of migrants in modern Germany should be defined as: “Germany, migrants, Merkel,” since the chancellor’s wide gesture towards Syrian refugees is now derogatoryly criticized at many levels.
In German society, Mrs. Chancellor is condemned for essentially inviting refugees into the country herself. Anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany is currently prevailing. For most Germans, it is obvious that the chancellor’s immigration policy is wrong.
"Elective Madness"
In the elections in the federal states - Baden-WĂĽrttemberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate - the ruling party of the Chancellor was defeated. Representatives of parties opposing asylum for refugees and migrants are now in the parliaments of the land:
- the far-right Alternative for Germany, which advocates closing borders and banning the reception of refugees;
- green party;
- social democrats.
Tabloid Bild called the situation "elective madness." Sueddeutsche Zeitung predicts that the 2016 election will "change Germany." Some publications have suggested that Angela Merkel and the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) are paying for their liberal immigration policies.
The elections, Sueddeutsche Zeitung believes, provide an insight into the future of German democracy. According to the publication, Germany is beginning to "brown." “As you know, everything flows, everything changes. Some might think that everything is still in order, but in fact it’s not so,” states Sueddeutsche Zeitung.