Immigration and asylum, integration capacity and the Skilled Labour Immigration Act : Opinion (concerning the request of the AfD parliamentary group, submitted on 4 December 2018) at the public hearing of the Integration Committee of North Rhine-Westphalia's Landtag, or state parliament, on 22 March 2019

Abstract

"The present opinion concerns the request of the AfD parliamentary group of 4 December 2018, at the hearing of the Integration Committee of North Rhine-Westphalia's Landtag on 22 March 2019, namely that 'Immigration and asylum should be kept separate on principle. At every level, the state government must advocate the entry of skilled immigrants only'. The request of the AfD parliamentary group contests the integration capacity on the labour market of most refugees in Germany and calls for the separation of asylum and immigration. However, the request of the AfD parliamentary group makes numerous claims regarding refugees' illiteracy, language skills and education, which do not reflect the actual situation. Moreover, more than one third of the refugees have since found gainful employment, at least half of whom as skilled workers, experts or specialists. The required separation of the residence purposes of persons in need of protection and other migrant groups is applicable law and, as such, is not called into question by the Federal Government's bill for an immigration law for skilled workers. Finally, the request of the AfD parliamentary group suggests that the vast majority of refugees cannot assert any legitimate claims for protection. Here again, this is not the case; two-thirds of those with a refugee background have been granted approved protection status, while the asylum procedures of a further fifth are still pending." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Brücker, H., Jaschke, P. & Keita, S. (2019): Zuwanderung und Asyl, Integrationsfähigkeit und Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz. Stellungnahme (zum Antrag der AfD-Fraktion vom 4.12.2018) bei der öffentlichen Anhörung des Integrationsausschusses des Landtags Nordrhein-Westfalen am 22.3.2019. (IAB-Stellungnahme 03/2019), Nürnberg, 18 p.