A recent study suggests that one in four immigrants is currently thinking about leaving Germany – and that three percent (300,000 people) already have concrete plans to leave.
We asked our readers, who are thinking of leaving Germany or have already made the decision go, to share their reasons. The responses we received from all corners of the country reveal disillusionment, frustration, and even despair.
Discrimination and racism
The most troubling aspect of the survey is the sheer number of respondents who cited racism and discrimination as a reason for wanting to leave, including a significant number of long-term residents who say the problem has become worse in recent years.
Elvis, who has lived and worked in Germany for years, described “blatant double standards in the working environment".
"Germans are more attentive to Germans. When it comes to foreigners, they show open disdain and disregard,” he added.
R Palany, a British national in Munich, described very similar experiences.
“Even as a senior executive with B2-C1 level German language skills at the German subsidiary of a major ‘international’ tech company, I faced overt and covert discrimination at work.
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"In the workplace, foreigners are tolerated at best and only up to mid-level positions. The more senior a foreigner is, the more the combination of gender, race and nationality becomes an issue."
“Germany is a country where racism and discrimination is normalised in society,” said Rishabh Singh in Berlin, a view shared by many of our respondents.
Barriers to integration
It’s a constant theme on the right of the political spectrum that immigrants fail to integrate when they come to Germany. Our respondents make it clear just how hard it is to feel accepted in German society.
“Despite being here for 15 years with a German-speaking job, I always feel I am still a foreigner and don't get a feeling of belonging,” wrote M.S., a naturalized German.
“Germany as a country isn't open enough to accept an Auslander (foreigner) as one of their own, regardless of how much time my family and I have spent here,” said Ravi Verma, a German citizen who has lived in Munich for 35 years.
Another respondent, who lives in Karlsruhe and is originally from Lebanon, wrote: “I've never felt welcomed, never felt I can be who I am, never felt Germans would like me to be part of their society.”
Many respondents believe the problem is becoming worse in Germany, rather than better.
Selvaraj in Berlin talked about the “resurgence of the far-right”, as well as “a glass-ceiling” for people who aren’t “Biodeutsch” (a term frequently used by the far-right to distinguish between Germans with and without a migrant background).
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Professor Chris Houlding from Essen talked about a “change in attitude" towards foreigners.
“My wife won’t go out anymore as she cannot speak German due to a memory problem as a result of a serious car accident," he told us.
"I have German citizenship. Things have become just about intolerable for day to day living. We own our own property and for some reason have been unable to engage electricians etc. We receive racial abuse in our own garden. It used to be our joy, but we rarely go out nowadays.”
In search of work
One of the most common reasons cited for leaving Germany was the prospect of finding better job opportunities elsewhere.
Several respondents pointed to stagnating wages in Germany, limited career growth, and a challenging job market for non-Germans.
“It’s becoming too difficult to find jobs, or to keep them and be able to grow professionally. I feel there is some important level of discrimination against non-Germans. The cost of living is increasing, while salaries are stagnating,” said Nicolas, an Italian living in Berlin.
An anonymous correspondent wrote about the “lack of job opportunities despite the so-called labour shortage, particularly for qualified people. It always boils down to whether you speak fluent German or not, even for international roles.”
Bureaucracy and living costs
Daily frustrations are part of life in every country in the world. But there was a sense among our respondents that the obstacles to living a good life in Germany have become unmanageable for many newcomers.
A senior software engineer from Cologne described integration as a nightmare because highly skilled immigrants aren’t given enough support, citing “too many one-sided efforts (on the part of the immigrant) and complicated processes".
The complexity and high levels of taxation were also an issue for many, as were issues around healthcare.
“Despite paying thousands of euros for health insurance, it’s a nightmare to find an appointment,” wrote a correspondent from Stuttgart.
Retirement plans also featured prominently in the responses. Several people expressed a desire to spend their later years in countries with a lower cost of living or better quality of life. “Retirement in Germany is expensive. Living on investments without an income in Germany is hard,” said Joseph W. in Berlin.
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Another correspondent, based in Bremen, agreed: “I arrived six years ago in Germany. I will retire in another seven. The pension I receive may not be sufficient and I may have to move to a cheaper country.”
A call for change
Occasionally, it feels as if there is a genuine mismatch between an individual and the country. It’s hard to imagine the circumstances under which Matt from the UK could warm to Germany, for example. He said: “The language is impossible. The culture is horrific. The people even worse.”
Other readers mentioned family needs.
“We left due to schools,” wrote one respondent. “My son has special needs that were a nightmare to manage in Germany.”
While some have made the decision to leave Germany for the sake of their children, others feel they have to leave in order to look after their parents.
“Germany … only wants young workers but not their old parents!” wrote one respondent.
“I don't have fixed plans to leave,” added an American correspondent, based in Berlin, “but since my mom can't join me here because I immigrated too soon, and she may need my help in old age, I may move to where she can be while I'm young. I would hate to get really established here, only to have to start again in my 40s or 50s.”
Sk Rashed, a German citizen in Munich, agrees: “I lost my father last year. My mother is a cancer patient and I can’t bring her here – where she could spend time with her grandchildren – for the long term.”
Others, such as Suresh Kumar in Hannover, simply miss their family and friends.
Sad to leave
For most respondents to our survey, however, the tone was one of regret and sadness at feeling forced to leave a country they had once hoped to call home, as a result of “overt and covert” racism, excessive bureaucratic hurdles, anti-family immigration policies, and the rising cost of living.
There are also widespread fears that the situation will become worse in future, with correspondents citing the rise of the AfD (and far right attitudes more generally) and the possibility of military conflict.
Above all, however, is the sense that sincere efforts to integrate and become part of German society have been rejected (among naturalised German citizens as well as expats), leading some correspondents to conclude that – while a German passport is still worth having – the barriers to making a permanent home in Germany are simply too great.
“After I finish my studies, I'll work for a few years in Germany and probably get the passport and then leave for Dubai,” wrote an international student based in NRW. “My reasons are high taxes, no social life, unemployment, hidden discrimination and no support provided to me as a student to utilize my full potential.”
Thank you to everyone who completed our survey. Although we weren't able to use all the responses, we read them all and they helped inform our article. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you would like to add another opinion to the conversation.
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