3 - Young Refugee Men: Saarbrücken
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2024
Summary
Young men present an interesting framework for integration policy. They should be the refugees with the most hope in front of them. They have adaptability, mobility and intelligence. Yet, this chapter will outline how the narrow framework of the integration regime structurally limits the effectiveness of these ‘benefits’. Through ethnographic fieldwork with primarily young men who arrived first in Germany alone, I will reflect their experiences through the various challenges presented by the integration regime.
The regional integration concept
Like many German cities, Kommunen and Lander, the medium-sized, western German city of Saarbrucken prioritized integration around 2003 following national legislation that adopted integration as the primary concept for the future of migration law, which was part of a broader shift in political thought, academic debate and the social imaginary (Schinkel 2017). Although there were extensive legal changes that developed after the enactment of the Integration Law in 2015 (Integrationsgesetz) (Ersanilli and Koopmans 2010; Bundesregierung 2016), it was merely the final touch of a legal framework that evolved from the early calls for immigration and citizenship reform in 2000 until the implementation of the 2005 Immigrant Law (Zuwanderungsgesetz) (Schneider 2007). From this point onwards, discussion of migration in Germany occurred primarily in the context of integration. From the national focus on integration, many regional governments took it upon themselves to organize and define a regional integration concept. This chapter begins with that idealist perspective and applies the ethnographic empirical research to analyse how everything played out when the regions were confronted with large numbers of asylum applications.
The framework outlined by Saarbrucken's Immigration and Integration Office (ZIB) in its reports between 2008 and 2014 largely highlights the collaborative efforts between interested parties: the city working with local arms of aid organizations like the German Red Cross (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) and Caritas, and a broader network of organizations to assist with the integration of migrants into the community (Zuwanderungs-und Integrationsburo (ZIB) 2014). To put the impact of a European aid agency like the Catholic Church associated with Caritas into perspective, they alone have over 25,000 branches across Germany. However, the report also envisions a concept of integration that requires broader community engagement by the citizenry with foreigners to achieve its aims.
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- The German Migration Integration RegimeSyrian Refugees, Bureaucracy, and Inclusion, pp. 67 - 89Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023