Syrian refugees in Germany

According to a 2020 UNHCR analysis, 39% of refugees worldwide were hosted by five countries. Germany places fifth on the list, hosting 1.1 million. It is also the only European country on the list. Germany has a significant foreign-born population comprised, according to the census, for the most part of Turkish, Polish, and recently Syrian residents. This last group began arriving in Germany following the worsening of the still ongoing Syrian war, which started in 2011. Syrians have since then been the top asylum applicants, followed by Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians, and Albanians. While Syrian refugees initially remained in neighboring countries, notably Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, in 2015, secondary flows towards Greece and Italy increased dramatically.

Migrants and asylum seekers moved from the Greek islands to the mainland and walked across the Balkans toward Austria, Germany, and other western and northern European countries. For many Syrians, the desired destination was Germany. Of the approximately 1 million people who crossed from Turkey to Greece and continued their journey through the Balkan route in 2015, nearly half a million applied for asylum in Germany. According to a UNHCR, of those applications, more than 158,000 were from Syrians. That was more than four times the number of claims received in the previous year of 2014. Such growth continued for two years, reaching over 375,000 in 2016 and over 496,000 in 2017.

Thus, during this time, the Syrian population in Germany registered a significant increase from 30,000 in 2010 to over 360,000 in 2015, reaching over 630,000 in 2016 and almost 790,000 in 2019. Faced with this emergency, the German government took several policy steps to facilitate the socioeconomic integration of the newcomers, investing heavily in vocational training, employment support, language, and cultural integration courses. The first stepped aim to streamline the Syrian refugees’ entry into the German workforce. Indeed, according to research, entrants in the labor market generally translates to better long term outcomes. Vocational education and training was privileged as a strategy for labor market integration as it focuses on providing skills for work.

In 2016, refugees had access to 1,600 vocational, education, and training courses created by the federal employment agency. The second step aimed to support newcomers navigate the cultural and linguistic differences between Germany and Syria, for example, by including a considerable amount of time in language classes and civic orientation in a VET. Despite being slower in training than other immigrant groups, Syrians in Germany have benefited from the language classes. And by 2017, already 75% of Syrian refugees had taken one or more language courses. It may be still a bit early for a complete evaluation. However, in 2017, the German response to the Syrian refugees intake was considered overall positive.

The country was able to adapt its pre-existing integration framework to the new arrivals. This, in addition to pre-existing favorable labor market conditions, led to mostly positive refugee labor market integration.