A decade after Angela Merkel’s iconic declaration, ‘Wir schaffen das,’ Germany’s efforts to integrate over a million refugees from war-torn countries are still unfinished but some evidence suggests it has been largely successful.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel coined the famous phrase “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do it”) at a government press conference on August 31st, 2015.
This came around the peak of the European refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands of people fleeing worn-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq were seeking asylum in Europe, with Germany as the main destination.
Speaking after a visit to a refugee camp in Dresden, where she was confronted by public opposition to her policies, Merkel used the phrase in an attempt to reassure the German public and refugees themselves that Germany was a strong country, capable of managing the challenges posed by helping so many people find homes and integrate into German society, schools, and the labour market.
Ten years later, it’s still impossible to talk about a “job done” or a “mission completed”. Experts point to numerous challenges that still need to be addressed; from improving employment among female refugees and access to better quality employment among refugees generally, to expanding affordable housing, enhancing language education, and providing schools and teachers with more and better resources.
But despite the ongoing challenges, a review of the evidence on the tenth anniversary of Merkel’s famous statement largely supports her story of a country which can rise to the challenge of helping so many refugees from war-torn countries to find their feet in Germany and build new lives.
Here’s a look at some of the headline figures covering employment, education, and housing.
Employment
Employment among refugees has grown enormously. In late 2014, around 70,000 people from asylum-seeking countries were employed in Germany.
Today, that number exceeds 730,000 – a more than tenfold increase.
According to an article by Mediendienst Integration, refugees who arrived in 2015 and 2016 found work in Germany more quickly than previous waves of refugees, demonstrating Germany’s evolving ability to provide work opportunities despite initial challenges.
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Approximately 64 percent of refugees who arrived in 2015 now hold jobs, mostly full-time, many in skilled positions across various sectors including transport, logistics, food production, engineering, construction, cleaning, and tourism.
Talking to the Handelsblatt newspaper, Herbert Brücker, migration expert at the Institute for Labour Market and Occupational Research (IAB) at the Federal Employment Agency, described Germany’s progress as being “quite far ahead” in comparison with other European countries.
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On the other hand, he also noted that the decision to distribute refugees disproportionately among regions in Germany with high unemployment slowed potential integration into the job market.
An asylum procedure consultant talks to a group of refugees in the office for independent asylum procedure counseling of association ‘Internationaler Bund’ in Norderstedt. (Photo by Gregor Fischer / AFP)
Education
Schools in Germany faced the daunting challenge of absorbing hundreds of thousands of refugee children.
Between 2014 and 2017, the number of pupils from main asylum-seeking countries rose from 34,000 (0.4 percent) to 230,000 (2.8 percent). A similar surge occurred in 2022/2023 when approximately 200,000 children arrived in Germany from Ukraine.
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German schools responded quickly – initially setting up welcome and preparation classes, then moving toward integrated classrooms with focused language support.
Despite the (ongoing) challenges, a survey of refugee children and youth in 2017 showed an overall high level of life satisfaction, comparable to that of German children.
Three-quarters reported that they spent their free time with German children and 86 percent rated their German language skills as good or very good.
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At the same time, experts say new arrivals are still at a disadvantage in the German school system, simultaneously allowed to fall between the cracks while being blamed for pressure on resources.
Housing
Housing arrangements for refugees in Germany have been shaped by special rules restricting where they can and can’t live, with significant consequences for their ability to find work and integrate.
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Refugees are first placed according to a national quota system and initially housed in reception centres for up to 18 months. Afterwards, they move to shared or private accommodations provided by municipalities.
Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel receives the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award for protecting refugees at height of Syria crisis. (Photo by STEFAN WERMUTH / POOL / AFP)
As of 2023, 25 percent of refugees from 2015 still remained in shared accommodation, largely as a result of a lack of affordable housing and discrimination in the rental market, according to reporting by Mediendienst Integration.
This has led many refugees to relocate to economically weaker cities with high unemployment to find affordable accommodations.
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In contrast, Ukrainian refugees arriving since 2022 were free to choose where to live (and received considerably more public support). By late 2022, around 75 percent lived in private apartments, rising to 79 percent by the spring of 2023.
