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Politics

Quadriga - Germany - Land Of Opportunity?

May 29, 2014

Germany has become one of the top destinations for immigration in the world. When it comes to numbers, it’s currently behind only the US in global rankings, outpacing countries like Canada or Australia that have historically opened their doors to immigrants. Is that just due to Germany’s high-octane economy and low unemployment figures? Or has the country also grown attractive for other reasons?

https://p.dw.com/p/1C8uq

Welcome to Germany, a country at the heart of Europe that for decades has tried to avoid turning into a country of immigration. Numbers of immigrants recently spiked to their highest levels in 20 years, with around 440,000 foreigners moving to Germany in 2013 alone. And both citizens and their government appear to have accepted the idea that prosperity for the country’s rapidly-ageing population will in the future depend on young, well-educated immigrants.

Symbolbild Einwanderungsland Deutschland
Image: Getty Images

According to a recent OECD study, the rise in numbers is partially due to the fact that immigrants from southern Europe in particular are remaining in Germany longer due to Europe’s ongoing economic crisis. The largest groups of immigrants to Germany, however, continue to come from countries in central and eastern Europe.

Berlin - Joachim Gauck in Neukölln
Image: Getty Images

The OECD also reports that immigrants to Germany pay more in taxes and contributions than they take out of the system in social benefits. They also lower the average age of employed staff in the country, it says, and play an important role in technological innovation.

Has Germany finally learned that immigrants can feel at home here, while at the same time retaining close emotional ties to their countries of origin? Is there now a new German “us” – what German President Joachim Gauck called a “union of the diverse”?

At a speech he gave to the German Bundestag, author Navid Kermani also expressed what it feels like to be a German “who is not just German”. The address was part of the ceremonies celebrating the 65th anniversary of the introduction of Germany’s constitution. Kermani thanked the country where he was born, but said Germany has enough resources to “protect political refugees rather than passing them on to third states”. Has Germany become an open and friendly country for immigrants?

Bundestag Feierstunde Kermani Applaus 23.05.2014
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Germany - Land Of Opportunity
Let us know what you think at: quadriga@dw.de

Our guests:

23.05.2013 DW Quadriga Alan Posener

Alan Posener was born in London and grew up in Kuala Lumpur and West - Berlin. A teacher by training, he quit school to become a freelance author and journalist. He worked as an editor and author for the German newspaper “Die Welt” and was chief of commentary for "Welt am Sonntag". At the present, he contributes to a variety of media, among them the debate magazine The European. Posener is the author of several critically acclaimed books, among them biographies of the American idols John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Elvis Presley.

05.12.2013 DW quadriga Katarzyna Stoklosa

Katarzyna Stoklosa – is a cultural scientist from Poland. She studied at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt on the Oder and also at the Moscow State University in Russia. After completing her studies, she worked in numerous institutes. In 2003, she then took over leadership of the Central and Eastern Europe department at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Today, she works at the Hannah Arendt Institute at the Technical University of Dresden and also as an assistant professor in the Department of Border Region Studies at the University of Southern Denmark.

20.12.2013 DW Quadriga Pascale Hugues

Pascale Hugues - Born in Straßburg, Hugues began her career in journalism at the BBC world service in London before moving on to become the English correspondent at the French daily newspaper, "Libération". Her job with the paper took her to Germany in 1989. Since 1995, she has worked as a correspondent for French news magazine "Le Point". She became known as an author after her book, "Le Bonheur Allemand" or "German Happiness" was published.