This article is written by Mustafa Alio, Managing Director of Jumpstart Refugee Talent

Last year I was honoured to be part of a Canadian civil society delegation invited to spend a week in Germany by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This promised to teach us a lot about Germany’s refugee integration process and allow an exchange of comments, experiences and feedback based on Canada’s equivalent.

Many issues were discussed, such as the diversity of resettlement-country resources, programs and processes for refugees. What stood out to me was an eye-opening comparison can be made between Germany and Canada, beginning with a few simple but standout figures.

In 2018-2019, Germany spent approximately €23 billion  to support the integration of over a million refugees, dwarfing Canada’s 1 billion dollar expenditure integrating about 250 thousand newcomers, only around 40 thousands of whom were refugees.

Germany’s more centralised government integration and resettlement processes are consolidated, while Canada divides its resources across many sectors and divisions. A decent one-bedroom apartment in some Canadian cities like Toronto may cost $2200 Canadian dollars, but the social aid given per person in a month is 800; exacerbates current inequality gaps that need to be filled. Yet, refugees seeking a second chance the world over often idealise Canada’s citizenship process as the ultimate prize.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s choice to keep Germany’s border open has led to a consistent flow of refugees into the country since 2015. These refugees have encountered a generous, but complicated system of admission, integration, and settlement. These processes are supported by ample funds, including university tuition for those eager to improve their education. Unfortunately, the same system gives refugees 1 of 9 legal “statuses” which generates uncertainty for the pathway to citizenship or asylum.

If the process of refugee integration through to  inclusion was a ten-step process, one could say that Germany provides exceptional support only through steps 1 to 8. Refugees we met in Düsseldorf had positive stories to tell. One individual had a €12,000 accounting course paid for by the government. However, Germany falls down on steps 8 to 10 – the end of which is that clear path to the prize of citizenship.

Refugees seeking a second chance the world over often idealise Canada’s citizenship process as the ultimate prize

Canada, by contrast, holds the prize of citizenship as the object at the end of a clear and not overly-long pathway – but to get there may involve the kinds of struggles refugees in other countries like Germany don’t feel in the beginning.

Germany’s conservative “under one roof” policy has shut down smaller offices in lieu of larger refugee “anchor centers”. Therein, every stage of the integration process, from arrival to housing, approval, deportation, or otherwise, all take place in one environment. Speaking to refugees using these facilities, some have gone so far as to describe them as “detention centers”a repeated concern that must be explored and addressed.

Depending on which of the myriad legal statuses they receive, asylees in Germany might face between a 3 to 7 year wait to apply for permanent residency. Many conditions are placed on one’s acceptance into a resettlement program, and only if by chance one should be accepted does this grant a renewable work/residency visa for 1 to 3 years.

Asylum seekers can be left in limbo for months, or even years, without the right to work, while their application is reviewed. “Will I stay, or will I go?” is the agonising refrain many humanitarian refugees sing while waiting hours in line to make their plea to a caseworker. Different German ministries tend to send mixed messages – a person may be accepted one day, only to be told the day after that, for example, Syria is no longer dangerous, and that they must return home.

Inconsistent training and varying acceptance rates in regions illuminate the unclear and incomplete nature of the centralisation integration process. A study conducted by Konstanz University in Germany found a negative relationship between xenophobia and the rates of asylum granted. Areas with heightened tension and prejudice, such as Berlin East, Chemnitz, Dresden, and smaller cities in the eastern part of Germany tend to yield the lowest prospects for success to its asylum seekers.

Filling places in need with qualified people and the use of data to identify matches, is something Canada would benefit to learn from Germany

Moreover, 2.9 million vocationally qualified migrants and refugees in Germany are often unable to find employment to exemplify their qualifications. Germany’s Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act, passed in 2012 to standardise foreign professional qualifications is falling short, despite its aims to help skilled professionals find positions.

In response, the Germans created a system of collecting data on newcomers and refugees to match their skills and backgrounds in desired regions. Refugees who have been resettled through this avenue still ostensibly receive freedom of mobility but are offered a range of social welfare incentives to stay – incentives they forfeit should they choose to move.

How truly “free” are refugees, depends on the view as to whether welfare is an incentive or a constraint. Should refugees choose to move, it is because they have found employment sufficient to keep them off welfare. This geographic skills-allocation system solves demographic issues which are much more pronounced in Canada, though a similar process does not exist in it.

Roughly 40% of Canada’s population lives in the MTV concentration – the major cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. This leaves thousands of cities, towns and rural areas to welcome qualified refugees and their skills.

This kind of demographic solution – filling places in need with qualified people and the use of data to identify matches, is something Canada would benefit to learn from Germany.

Both in Canada and Germany an array of employers are increasingly looking to fill their vacant positions, as the domestic labour force of each country ages and shrinks.

To create safe and healthy economies, an imperative first step is the search for inspired solutions from either nation, before Canada and Germany can begin to perfect their 10-step integration and inclusion processes; this promises to better grant refugees the resources, integration support, and security they have risked everything to obtain. — Mustafa Alio

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