According to Deutsche Welle, there are currently 15 million immigrants living in Germany. This is almost one fifth of the total population. More than half of them have German citizenship. By formal criteria, they belong to the native population of Germany, but even this, as statistics show, is far from a guarantee of successful integration.
Alarming trends are confirmed by the figures of the latest, seventh report. Almost every second newcomer has no profession. 18% of children from migrant families drop out of school without receiving a school-leaving certificate. And only just over 20% subsequently obtain an education. This is despite the fact that the country is acutely experiencing a shortage of labor. First and foremost, this refers, of course, to highly qualified personnel.
The Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, Maria Böhmer, presenting the results of the report, emphasized that Germany today needs talents. According to her, to solve the problem of personnel shortage, it is necessary to use the potential of non-native residents of Germany. True, often this path turns out to be very thorny. Earlier, Böhmer stated: 'Today we must acknowledge the fact that the integration problem has become more acute in recent years. There are people who still do not speak German well enough.' And this, in her opinion, affects their level of education and professional training. Such people are more often unemployed, and among them there are many young people. 'We cannot allow a lost generation to appear in our society,' Böhmer emphasized.
To avoid the negative consequences that difficulties in integration may lead to, in the summer of 2007 a nationwide integration plan was adopted in Germany. It is a set of about 400 rules, which, however, are of a recommendatory nature. The state, regional and municipal authorities, representatives of business and non-governmental organizations became voluntary participants in this initiative.
Skeptics and the opposition call this initiative of the federal government only a 'memorandum of intent'. Maria Böhmer, in turn, is confident that the key to solving the problem exists. First of all, it is necessary to establish a dialogue between native and non-native residents of the country. 'If a person comes to Germany, he must learn to express himself correctly in German, at least in order to go shopping, communicate with a neighbor and explain himself to a doctor when necessary,' the government commissioner for integration is sure.
Marina BORISOVA.
Deutsche Welle