Merkel, time to take stock: in Cologne, the realization of an assumed migration policy
Accommodation center for migrants in Cologne.
© AP
Text by: Patricia Blettery Follow
6 mins
Angela Merkel, the chancellor who acted with humanity in the midst of the migration crisis?
A few days before his departure from power, the Germans have not forgotten the phrase “Wir schaffen das!
She said when she decided to open the country's borders to migrants.
For some, a pride, for others a betrayal.
Reporting.
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From our special correspondent,
On August 31, 2015, in the midst of the European migration crisis,
Angela Merkel opened the German borders to refugees
. A surge of generosity and solidarity is born in German society. Many people are mobilizing. They donate. They get involved in the field. For Birte Lange of the Kölner Flüchtlingsrat, an NGO in Cologne that provides legal aid to refugees, this welcoming culture was essential during this period: “
Many volunteers helped us, to welcome people in stations, airports, give them train tickets.
Here, in the Rhineland, the formalities were done in Dortmund, and not in Cologne, because it was the Länd that was responsible and not the municipality.
They helped pre-register asylum claims.
We needed people who speak Arabic.
"
►Also read: The arrival of refugees in Germany "will change the country"
But on New Year's Eve that same year, still in Cologne, a series of sexual assaults offered Angela Merkel's detractors a golden opportunity to criticize this decision. The anti-migrant and Islamophobic AfD party points the finger at uncontrolled immigration and surfs on a growing mistrust of refugees. But for actors in the field like Bikup, it was an opportunity to bring even more "
commitment and more emphasis to support
" to these people, explains Varinia Fernanda Morales, the director of this structure which promotes the integration of refugees by learning the language and which trains them in linguistic and cultural mediation.
The Place de la Gare in Cologne, where the events of New Year's Eve 2015 happened. Six years later, we do not yet know the seriousness of the acts committed, nor the identity of the attackers.
© Patricia Blettery / RFI
Obtaining a work permit, a long and painful process
R. is Bangladeshi. He, his wife and his daughter arrived in 2011 via India and Turkey. Their point of arrival: Munich, then Bielefeld, and finally Cologne. They apply for formal asylum at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and thereby obtain their first German lessons. Every immigrant has a right to it. This is the main measure of integration in Germany. It allows you to obtain a B1 level and thus become independent and manage on your own to look for work, do your shopping, bring up your children and interact in society. It is accompanied by an orientation course to familiarize yourself with the laws of the country, its history, its culture.
This is the most rewarding part.
The rest is painful and discouraging: the search for documents to prove his identity, the interrogations to tell his story, the steps to find decent accommodation and leave the accommodation center ... R. and his family will be rejected several times. both asylum rights and will indeed take nine years to obtain a temporary residence permit (
Duldung
), supported all the same by a Franco-German family who is trying to alleviate the burden of the journey.
Accommodation center for migrants in Cologne.
© Patricia Blettery / RFI
Focus on mastery of the German language
It is in the exchange, the dialogue that resides the success of an asylum trajectory. Bikup is convinced of it. Its basic premise: exiles can become intermediaries capable of defusing cultural misunderstandings and thus facilitate access to integration mechanisms for other migrants. In 2015, it was mainly refugees from the Middle East and in particular from Syria, Iran and Afghanistan who arrived on German soil. “
Prejudices exist on both sides. And the mediator is there to initiate dialogue. The misunderstandings, the logics are different according to the region of origin, the language, the religion ”
, explains Yann Pouget who worked for several years at Bikup as an interpreter ethics trainer. Hence, the need for a person who makes the link to help resolve the difficulties encountered on a daily basis: what are the papers to be completed for a direct debit? Why does a family refuse to send their daughter to the swimming pool for school? How to help a caregiver to understand the patient? What are the traumas experienced during the trip?
Those who have access to these courses offered by Bikup - and who complete the integration course offered by the BAMF - may or may not have refugee status.
They have a residence permit or not, but live in Germany, do well in German, but have to find a job.
They therefore take courses which will train them in the profession of interpreter-mediator.
82 to 85% of the people who went there found work.
Most of them become
freelancers
in any organization that needs it.
Others
find permanent jobs in institutions, as demand is high in the region.
Germany dependent on immigration
Indeed,
North Rhine-Westphalia is a large land of immigration
and must therefore deal with these refugees who are there and are part of the reality of life in Germany. She has therefore forged partnerships so that these mediators are present in many sectors, such as the police, justice, hospitals, youth homes, schools, nurseries in the city of Cologne, but also alongside social workers. A victory for this structure which "
wishes to offer the necessary tools to new arrivals so that they can participate actively in society
", explains Varinia Fernanda Morales, who founded it.
Germany has long been a country structured by immigration, 26% of the population has at least one parent born abroad.
But she recently accepted it.
In March 2020,
a new law entered into force to alleviate the lack of manpower
and facilitate the application for a work permit and the installation in the country to foreigners with certain qualifications.
►
To read also:
Merkel, time to take stock: in Dresden, a more autonomous and forward-looking industry
Merkel, time to take stock: a more modern societal policy
Merkel, time to take stock: in the Rhineland, the contradictions of environmental policy
►
On France 24:
[Long format] Return on the 16 years of reign of the German Chancellor
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