Abstract

The research project investigates the implementation of political and legal changes which have been introduced in Germany since 2008 in view of the impending shortage of skilled workers. They are to facilitate the access of young forced migrants with a suspension of deportation (“tolerated” refugees) to the German apprenticeship market. However, it is still unclear to which extent and how the respective local authorities are putting this new labor market induced integration policy into practice. Preliminary investigations suggest very heterogeneous implementation realities across Germany.

In scientific research, the vocational training opportunities of young tolerated refugees are mostly a black box. The qualitative-explorative research project aims at adding knowledge to this relatively under-researched topic on the basis of documentary analysis and primary empirical data. In particular, semi-structured individual interviews with officials in migration offices and focus group discussions with representatives of the ESF-program “Bleibeberechtigte und Flüchtlinge” of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs are conducted. The analyses are to provide insights on the differences in the implementation of the federally uniform legislative changes and its underlying grounds. The research further focuses on the consequences of the regionally diverse application practices of the new legislation for the training opportunities and further life perspectives of young tolerated refugees in Germany.