GERMANY — Nearly a year has passed since the migrant crisis sent shockwaves throughout Europe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to offer asylum to 1 million refugees, causing a paradoxical narrative of open arms and anti-immigrant tensions amongst locals. But what exactly do we know about the refugees in Germany? Here are 10 fast facts about the current situation:
- Germany welcomed beyond one million refugees in 2015, 430,000 of whom escaped the grave humanitarian disaster in Syria. According to the United Nations (U.N.), well over half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million Syrians are in need of dire humanitarian assistance regardless of whether or not they remain in the country.
- One in three refugees in Germany is an unaccompanied minor. Without their own parents to care for them, German family courts place the orphans in foster homes or clearinghouses that specialize in unaccompanied minors.
- All refugee children that receive asylum in Germany receive an education. Yet, teachers face the challenges of instructing youth that are severely affected by the psychological difficulties brought on by war. A refugee treatment center in Germany, Refugio München, said that almost 200 unaccompanied children underwent psychotherapy at the facility last year.
- While the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child declared that children under 18 years old as minors, Germany’s ratification of the decision considered refugees even 16 years old in Germany as adults. Humanity in Action (HIA), an international human rights organization, explains that the U.N. rule gives children — including refugees — equal rights. Further, HIA claims that Germany’s omission of this principle denies refugee children a proper future.
- Although the German government denies that refugees in Germany are being taken advantage of, 6,000 refugee children were reported missing in 2015. It is hinted that traffickers or other criminals are to blame for the disappeared minors. UNICEF U.K. deputy executive director, Lily Caprani, calls for receiving countries to step up their registration efforts, implying that the “complete absence of information [is what]should terrify us the most.”
- According to a Pew Research Center Poll, around 60 percent of Germans believe refugees’ skill and ability will have a positive economic impact on the country. In fact, the German Federal Employment Agency reported that 30,000 refugees found employment in 2015. Some 297,000 refugees in Germany are also seeking work, but assimilation into the job market is a lengthy process which could take up to 15 years.
- Germany recently passed new laws obliging refugees to take certain steps to integrate into society. Asylum seekers are now required to attend German language, history and culture courses. If they fail to partake, they can face cuts to their benefits. In addition, employers are no longer able to give preference to applicants that are German citizens over refugees. Merkel hopes these measures will help refugees in Germany find jobs and participate fully in their new communities.
- Twenty-one percent of the refugees in Germany pursuing employment are considered skilled workers and figures demonstrate an influx of Syrian doctors landing in Germany over the past two years.
- Many refugee camps across Germany are now overcrowded, creating restlessness as well as ill-feelings amongst refugees from different countries and cultural backgrounds. However, there have been no reports of self-harm or clashes between groups in more spacious lodgings that have the number of volunteers needed to take refugees on excursions in the local area and help integrate them into daily German life.
- Since a large number of refugees in Germany come from places where their sexual orientation is considered a criminal offense, Berlin offered a safe space for LGBTQ asylum seekers when the city opened a shelter for them in February of this year. And, at refugee counseling centers, therapists make sure to communicate to their clients that in Germany, they have the freedom to be open about their sexual orientation.
Though refugees in Germany managed to escape the violence, danger and strife of their origin countries, they encounter new obstacles as they start their lives in an unfamiliar land.
– Kristina Evans
Photo: Flickr