For financial reasons, voluntary integration courses will no longer be available for an indefinite period. This announcement by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has been met with heavy criticism from politicians and business leaders. In a letter to Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), the district administrator of Tübingen, mayors from the district of Tübingen and representatives of industry and trade in the region are calling for this decision to be reversed.
As reported by tuenews INTERNATIONAL, the announced restriction mainly affects asylum seekers, tolerated persons, people from Ukraine, but also citizens of the European Union. “Stop the equally short-sighted and devastating decision to cut funding for voluntary integration courses”: this is how nine signatories from the region conclude their three-page letter to the responsible minister in Berlin.
The economy needs foreign workers
The authors of the letter point out “that social cohesion has been increasingly undermined by populist forces in recent years”. In the political debate, the problems of migration are in the foreground, rather than its opportunities. “Communication that emphasises the negative aspects of migration” is “downright devastating” and “a location risk”. This particularly affects the economy, “which is dependent on foreign skilled workers and labour even in times of crisis”. The signatories fear that if even well-educated people from other countries do not feel welcome in Germany, the immense demand for labour and skilled workers cannot be met.
Another point of view: language is the key to integration and “the basis for our social cohesion,” the letter states. That is why the authors find it “completely incomprehensible” to want to cut back in this area of all places. They also consider it “unwise” that those affected by the decision “will never be available to our labour market and will incur considerable costs”.
At the expense of local authorities
The authors of the letter also point out the (financially poor) situation of cities and municipalities. They cannot afford the significant reduction in language courses. Their concern is that, in the end, local authorities will have to deal with the resulting problems, such as long-term social benefits. This means “that, in case of doubt, we will once again have to serve as guarantors for state tasks”.
The letter was signed by Tübingen District Administrator Hendrik Bednarz, Thomas Hölsch (Chairman of the District Association of Municipalities), Mayors Boris Palmer (Tübingen), Stephan Neher (Rottenburg) and Michael Bulander (Mössingen), Johannes Schwörer (President of the Reutlingen Chamber of Industry and Commerce), Alexander Wälde (President of the Reutlingen Chamber of Crafts), district master craftsman Norbert Schnitzler and Gerold Imhof (Managing Director of the Tübingen District Craftsmen’s Association).
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