A decade ago in 2015, as the civil war in Syria grew into even more brutal and bloody conflict, Germany opened its door to hundreds of thousands of refugees. At train stations in cities like Munich and Berlin, groups of people waited to greet the new arrivals, bearing offers of support and shelter, along with water and chocolate bars.
For Dr. Andreas Philippi, Lower Saxony's Minister for Labour and Integration and chair of the German Integration Ministers' Conference, this moment marked a high point for Germany. Faced with those fleeing war and persecution, he said, the country experienced a collective "wave of empathy".
"You may remember the Chancellor (Angela Merkel) saying, 'We can do this,' and it worked wonderfully because we were a strong country that had built itself up over decades," he told The Local. "We had many resources, we embraced the situation, and we also had a history."
Ten years later, however, the tone on immigration has shifted dramatically. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved record results in February's election, and the public debate is dominated by anger, resentment and fear. This is despite the fact that the demographics in Germany are shifting, and around 26 percent of the population now has a migration background.
"Fear in people's minds remains," said Philippi. "Fear of foreigners, fear of change. Before the federal election, there were several attacks involving migrants - some were mentally ill, some stateless - and the media coverage reinforced this primal fear of the 'other'."
According to the SPD politician, the attacks and their subsequent media coverage has whipped up a far more widespread distrust of migrants - despite the fact that the perpetrators represent just a tiny proportion of foreigners in Germany.
"It results in the entire group being judged by the actions of a minuscule few - something like ’0.00003’ percent. That’s one reason why we've struggled, for example, to convince people in Eastern Germany that the AfD's fear-based policies are wrongfully targeted at minorities and newcomers,” Philippi added.
“As we saw during the election campaign, the focus wasn't on unity, but rather on spreading fear. Politicians like Friedrich Merz took clear positions - even getting support from the AfD at one point - despite knowing their demands weren’t compatible with European or international law.”
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In contrast to Merkel's famous phrase - "Wir schaffen das" - the current CDU-led government has focused on pulling up the drawbridge to stop the influx of migrants. Just days after taking office, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) ordered police to step up checks at all of Germany's land borders and reject almost all asylum seekers trying to enter the country.
Vital for prosperity
When Germany's state integration ministers gathered in Göttingen in April for the annual Integration Ministers Conference, they were swimming against this anti-migrant tide.
The ministers looked at measures to help foreigners find their feet in the country, learn German and enter the workplace successfully.
According to the Institute for Labour Research (IAB), Germany requires at least 400,000 workers to move to the country per year in order to maintain its supply of labour. This will be vital for ensuring growth and shoring up the country's welfare and pensions system.
"From a labour market perspective, we see that the balance between working and non-working populations only remains stable because of immigration," said Philippi. "Without it, we’ll face a shortage of 33 percent of the workforce in the next 20 to 30 years. That would mean Germany will no longer be able to maintain its prosperity as we have done, through work and through taxation."
Currently, the most urgent need for workers is in four key sectors: healthcare, logistics, construction and hospitality. However, the Lower Saxony Labour Minister says there is a demand for workers everywhere.
With such an urgent need for new talent, integrating foreigners into work and society becomes a vital part of Germany's economic success.
As part of this long-term goal, Germany rolled out its new digital visa portal at the start of the year, with the aim of making the application process far quicker and more efficient. In places like India and Indonesia, where waiting times for an appointment can stretch up to nine months, this work is still ongoing.
However, for Philippi, the most important part of the process begins after arrival.
"Integration doesn't begin with the journey here; it starts once people are here, once they have their papers and decide to stay,” he explained. That was one of the primary lessons of the Syrian refugee crisis, he added.
Concrete steps
Despite the perceptible lurch to the right in German politics, there have been several steps forward over the last decade when it comes to welcoming foreigners.
Among the most significant was the traffic-light coalition's landmark reform of citizenship, reducing residence requirements to five years from eight and ending a ban on dual nationality. This, along with the introduction of new language and integration courses and moves to speed up recognition of qualifications, was seen as major win for the integration ministers.
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But Philippi believes there's still work to do.
One concrete example of this work is Adelante Colombia: a collaborative project between Lower Saxony's Work and Social Ministry and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The initial goal is to recruit 50 young people from Colombia, where the unemployment rate is 25 percent, to train in Germany's struggling healthcare and life sciences industries.
"We’ve selected young people who are learning German and are motivated to train in healthcare-related jobs," Philippi explained. "We’ll ensure they get passports, visas, and places to continue their training here in Germany. They'll arrive in communities where there are already Spanish-speaking networks, which will ease integration. We call the concept: work together, live together."
Beyond projects to recruit workers from abroad, integration ministers also want to dismantle hurdles that workers can face on arrival. This includes expanding Welcome Centres - a first port of call to help foreigners navigate German bureaucracy and settle into the country.
It also involves improving the clunky and fragmented process of getting foreign qualifications recognised - not only by speeding up administration but also by lowering the bar.
"Our goal is quick recognition," said Philippi. "In less complex professions, it's better to get people into companies early, where they’ll learn the language faster.
"We should also reconsider how difficult the exams are. German is a tough language - I met four Moroccan men who were great practical workers but failed because the test questions were too hard. We might need to ease up in some areas."
Another way of simplifying the process is to apply less-rigid criteria, he added: "Not just checking curriculums or exam results, but also conducting competency assessments to see what applicants actually know."
Speeding up processes
In future, the goal is to give applicants a preliminary decision within four weeks, with the vast majority receiving full recognition within three months - or six in the most complicated cases. This would mark a major improvement on current waiting times, which can stretch up to a year.
Philippi believes a similar goal should be in place for citizenship applications, which can take a notoriously long time to process. With naturalisation offices chronically understaffed and overwhelmed with applications - many of them from former Syrian refugees - eligible candidates can find themselves waiting years to finally receive an answer.
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"As politicians, we have a strong interest in improving bureaucratic efficiency - either by hiring more staff or reducing bureaucracy itself," he said. "If someone has submitted everything and is eligible, it absolutely shouldn’t take two years. Once everything is in order, it should not take longer than three months to make a decision - and even that feels too long."
Despite the integration ministers' best efforts, however, some fear that the anti-immigrant tone in Germany will still be off-putting to foreigners. While pulling up the drawbridge for asylum seekers, the very skilled workers Germany wants to attract may well decide to go elsewhere.
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"Of course, some will choose a liberal country like Canada over a right-leaning Germany, especially if they fear discrimination because of their skin colour - that worries me deeply," Philippi said. "But we can only urge people: don’t let fear deter you."
While the headlines may be dominated by anti-migrant rhetoric, the work of making it easier to settle in Germany will continue quietly in the background - with local leaders like Philippi striving to improve the system step by step.
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