Germany gets top marks for integration of migrants

Jens Thurau

07/07/2024July 7, 2024

A new OECD study has found Germany is successfully integrating migrants despite obstacles such as migrants often having little education.

If you were to listen to many in Germany, you would think the country's integration of migrants and asylum seekers was going rather poorly. But a new study by the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that isn't the case.

Despite a number of challenges — such as further education and training — Germany is doing a better job than many of its European neighbors when it comes to integrating new arrivals, the study finds.

Most migrants coming from within the EU

For the study, OECD migration expert Thomas Liebig compared data from countries such as Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy, as well as from Scandinavian nations. For the first time, comprehensive data from the EU was also used.

His finding: Although much attention is focused on asylum seekers and refugees, most migration in Germany comes from citizens moving within the European Union.

At a press conference, Liebig said that refugees made up only about one out of five migrants who arrived in Germany in the past 10 years.

"The overwhelming number of new arrivals to Germany come from within the European Union," he said.

A glance at Germany's migration map makes that clear: Almost 60% of people come because EU citizens can find easier access to work here.

The study also makes clear that migrants have long become part of German society.

'We're a country of immigrants'

German integration commissioner Reem Alabali-Radovan, who commissioned the study, shares this view.

"We were always a country of immigrants and that has made us strong," she said. "Germany's immigration history is very diverse. It consists of refugees from the Second World War, guest and temporary workers, resettled ethnic Germans, and refugees from the former Yugoslavia and later from Syria and Afghanistan."

Workforce participation is a major characteristic of successful integration. The OECD study found that 70% of those coming to Germany have found employment. That figure, which temporarily dipped during the coronavirus pandemic, is higher than in nearly all other EU countries and is a record for Germany.

Problems with lack of migrants' education

Still, there are plenty of problems: Although nearly two-thirds of immigrants can speak good German within five years of arriving in the country, that number drops dramatically among those with little or no formal education — with only a quarter of poorly educated arrivals being able to speak the language after five years.

Employment is also lower among such arrivals, hovering around 50%. On the other hand, only Italy hosts more migrants without a formal education.

Alabali-Radovan sees this as an area for improvement: "The education system still isn't geared toward serving the immigrant society we've long since become. That's why we all need to pull together."

Another issue is employment among young women who have come to Germany with at least one child but without a partner. In 2021, around 40% of those women were actively working, compared to 70% of similarly situated women born in Germany. That gap is much larger than it is in other countries and has most recently affected women with children arriving from Ukraine.

Migration Representative Reem Alabali-Radovan says the debate around migration needs to be more objectiveImage: Malte Ossowski/Sven Simon/picture allianceCalls for more objectivity in an emotional debate

But, despite the issues of migration, Germany simply cannot afford long, drawn-out debates about whether it is a country of immigrants or not, the study finds.

"There are now more than 14 million immigrants in Germany. And when we add those who were born here to immigrant parents, that means one-in-five people here were either born abroad or born in Germany to immigrant parents," migration expert Liebig said.

Ingegration commissioner Alabali-Radovan added that she commissioned the study to bring greater objectivity to what she called "an emotional debate."

"Integration is going far better than is generally thought, when we look at it internationally," she said.

US the only OECD country with more immigrants

Beyond the 14 million migrants already living in Germany, 2022 saw the arrival of 1 million Ukrainians as well as another 600,000 asylum seekers.

Among OECD countries, only the United States takes in more immigrants than Germany.

The most important lasting impact of Euro 2024 is likely to come far away from the football pitch.

This year's tournament has already seen plenty of young stars make a name for themselves and a glut of "David vs. Goliath" moments — most notably Georgia pulling off an impressive victory over 2016 winners Portugal.

But UEFA's decision to adopt a human rights declaration just ahead of the start of the competition could prove to be far more significant for players, fans and workers alike.

An online form has been created to report any human rights issues and, importantly, provide an immediate response and resolution from a law firm hired by UEFA to deal with the complaints.

Previously, fans, journalists and workers faced an uphill battle to be heard, as there was no clear information on which the correct institution was to deal with a specific concern. As a result, fans impacted by issues during UEFA events like the 2021 Euros final at Wembley and the 2022 Champions League final in Paris struggled with knowing how and where to file complaints over treatment or abuse they suffered. 

Andrea Florence, director of Sport & Rights Alliance, highlighted the importance of UEFA's including stakeholders — clubs, leagues, national associations, players unions and European institutions — to create an effective grievance mechanism.

"It allowed us to provide our expertize to try and help users of the system know how to access it and get remedy," Florence told DW.

Fan voices at heart of mechanism

Crucially for Ronan Evian, the executive director of Football Supporters of Europe, the inclusion of fans in the consultation period meant more peace of mind coming into the tournament than ever before.

Across the 10 stadiums hosting matches during Euro 2024 and the Fan Zones in the host cities, posters directing people on how to report grievances, along with QR codes, have been advertised. 

Additionally, a specific "safe room" in every stadium has been set up for stewards to direct people to who feel under immediate threat or discriminated against.

"Human rights are universal, and as fans we need to fight for universal human rights," Evian told DW. "For us fans it's about fair treatment, and what UEFA has newly implemented is that there is a rapid response mechanism and there is a grievance mechanism."

"It's very important because everybody should feel safe in the stadium, regardless of their background, gender, sexual orientation, capacity," Evian said. "This is a way to ensure that everybody can feel as safe as possible in any crowd." 

Independent law firm receiving complaints

To ensure the independence of the reporting and resolution process, UEFA hired German law firm Rettenmaier to process any grievances that come in through the online tool.

The inclusion of the law firm has helped ensure the ability to file complaints anonymously as well as the possibility of immediate resolutions.

"What's equally important is, as the complaints are being managed by a law firm and not by UEFA, you know you will receive a response," Evian said.

"That is an assessment of whether your rights have been abused," he said, "and crucially it will mean accountability of the tournament organizers, which is something we've welcomed."

"We know a number of people, whether they are fans, workers, journalists, have filed complaints through the grievance mechanism," he added.

Late implementation an issue

The implantation process has not been without its issues or flaws, namely how late the grievance mechanism was put into force. This has meant workers, for example, had no instrument to report issues in the lead up to the tournament. 

Equally, though posters at grounds have instructed people on how they can report problems, UEFA opted against putting up a link on its homepage.

Though she praised the work UEFA has done to ensure that human rights are respected during Euro 2024, Florence lamented a lack of publicity.

"There were undoubtedly impacts that happened before the tournament started," she said. "For instance, workers' rights or people that might have been forcibly removed from cities because of the event."

"People need to know that all of that can be reported, even things that happened before the mechanism was set up," she added.

And Evian said the "biggest weakness of the tournament" was how late a lot of things were set up.

"Honestly, I don't know why things happened so late," Evian said. "I don't know if it's down to governance or the way the preparation was done."

"The human rights declaration could have been adopted significantly earlier, and that would have had a broader impact on the preparation," Evian said.

"Nevertheless, when the engagement started, it was genuine, and it was a meaningful consultation," he added. "UEFA sought an ambitious human rights policy, which was not at all the case for previous tournaments. All in all, it's progress and it's also a lesson learned for future tournaments."

Edited by: Matt Pearson

Kalika Mehta Sports reporter