27/05/2015

German report on the integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the labour market

The Bertelsmann Foundation released a report studying integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the job market in Germany, where asylum seekers are now allowed to work after three months, enhancing their integration prospects. But long asylum procedures still constitute an obstacle to finding job on the labour market, as employers are afraid to employ them without a definitive answer on their refugee status stated the report. Examination of the refugee status in Germany takes in average 7.1 months. 

But waiting time varies depending on nationality: Eritreans with a very high recognition rate nevertheless have to wait for 10.1 months, Afghans 16.5 months and Pakistanis 17.6 months. The report quotes statistics saying that 84% of the German people (surveyed) were in favour of a more rapid integration of asylum seekers in the job market. Reducing (without lowering the quality of the decision making process) the length of refugee status determination status is therefore a major political step to promote refugees integration in the labour market and lower State's dependency of asylum seekers during refugee status determination process.
  The report, in German, 'Die Arbeitsintegration von Flüchtlingen in Deutschland Humanität, Effektivität, Selbstbestimmung' (authored by Prof. Dr. Dietrich Thränhardt is to be found here. The report analyses how the right to work was gradually granted to asylum seekers in Germany and the disastrous effects of restrictive past policies on the right to work, freedom of circulation of asylum seekers (past policies that are qualified of 'desintegrativ' in the report). The report also identifies ways to build rapidly coherent integrative approaches to enhance  potential integration of asylum seekers and refugees. Only in five Ländern can the asylum seekers learn the German language during the refugee status determination process. The report advocates for the extension of such programmes to all Ländern together with cursus on job market integration being given by the public service in charge of supporting job seekers as soon as possible after the introduction of their refugee claim so that they can start looking for a job as soon as they are authorized to do so (three months after lodging refugee claim).

See also related press article : Spiegel Online, Politik, 26/05/2015: Integration: Lange Asylverfahren blockieren Arbeitssuche.  


     

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