How has Merkel's warm welcome of Syrian refugees panned out?

When she did so, as the country's chancellor and the head of its government, she pledged not to repeat some of the previous mistakes with previous waves of immigration – from Turkey and Kurdistan in the 1960s and Lebanon in the 1980s – when problems with integration and assimilation led to the development of separated communities, and criminal gangs.

This time around, the policy was thought out in detail. There were reception centres and a clear process for obtaining residency, housing, health insurance and financial help.

Mandatory German language courses were brought in, and participants were charged €300 per month as a first step toward employment and citizenship. Vocational training was also required.

It made a difference, and Al Majalla spoke to people in the capital, Berlin and small towns in Germany to find out how.

Surviving and thriving in a new nation

There is a significant Turkish and Kurdish community in the small town of Duren, with two refugee camps near the town and a third at nearby Kreuzau.

A young Egyptian man said he works as a dentist, having arrived from Qatar, where it was too difficult to secure citizenship. In this part of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, he was preparing for a proficiency test in the German language.

A Syrian man said he was also preparing for the same test. He was travelling from Duren station to Cologne's grand mosque, a regular Friday journey. He did not appear to be particularly religious but seemed typical of someone drawn to it by a sense of belonging and community there, a place built by the Turkish community in 2017.

Another Syrian man disclosed that his journey to Germany, completed two years ago, involved using people smuggling networks from Turkey. He then spent five months in a refugee camp before obtaining residency.

Then, he completed language training and a vocational course in car mechanics, including computer analysis, which helped him find work.

The €20bn intergration

A 26-year-old refugee, working as a taxi driver, described himself as a "survivor of Iraq's woes". He, too, came via Turkish smuggling networks and spent five months in a camp before gaining residency and training.

Germany has been committed to the spending required. According to Edin Ozoz, commissioner for migration, refugees, and integration, the government allocated €20bn to refugees in 2016, including for language education and vocational training, which are considered fundamental factors for integration.

He said it typically takes at least a year for individuals to enter the job market after completing their training. The training system is internationally renowned and often credited as a driving force behind Germany's economic success.

For Syrian refugees, overcoming the language barrier often takes two to three years before they can engage in vocational training, which serves as a pathway to permanent employment.

A surge of Syrian trainees

Statistics indicate that the availability of vocational training courses in 2010 far exceeded the number of participants and demand in Germany.

However, in 2016, the situation completely changed: the demand for training multiplied several times compared to the available courses. The number of training applicants reached 140,000 people, half of whom were Syrians to whom Chancellor Merkel opened the borders in 2015. 

Official German statistics indicate that the educational background of Syrians is better than that of other refugee groups: 71% have school certificates, 32% have completed basic and vocational education, 8% did not attend school, and 30% learned outside Syria, in countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern refugee-hosting nations.

Some 44% of the learners are proficient in English, and 56% have started taking German. Despite tens of thousands enrolling in German vocational schools, the language barrier still prevents many from entering German universities.

In addition to the language barrier, there are bureaucratic and logistical obstacles. These not only affect refugees and immigrants but also native Germans.

'We don't want a parallel society'

Some of the Syrians Al Majalla spoke to also indicated that the term "integration" can be a source of frustration. It can feel as if the German public's repeated use of it is condescending or even repellent. There can be a feeling that the hosts do not think there is anything they can learn from the new residents or citizens.

However, some immigrants and German hosts either do not recognise or are pushing back against this trend. The Refugee Support Association was set up in 2015, by a group of German journalists and artists, to support refugees using art and marketing techniques.

One of its programmes, covering food tasting, promotes the cuisines and restaurants established by refugees or migrants, especially in Sonnenallee – also known as Arab Street – in Berlin.

Many Syrians have found employment opportunities in this area, and some have joined family and community investment networks to establish restaurants, cafes, and pastry shops.

This did not happen without some social friction. It led to competition with similar enterprises set up by other immigrant communities, such as the Turks and Lebanese. There has been tension and some problems in the street, where active drug trafficking networks remain.

But the Refugee Support Association has a clear reply to any potential unease between different communities, saying on its website: "We do not want a parallel society. We are looking for enrichment that everyone who arrives in Germany should offer and integrate into."

Syrians are typically aware that they are being more carefully looked after by German civil society associations than other refugees, such as Afghans and Africans. But some Syrians feel Germans want to reshape them completely along specific lines, rather than channelling the community's skills and experiences.

A young Syrian trainee in Berlin, attending a vocational school, said: "The German public often asks you to conform to a specific image, to do this and refrain from that. You go to language and vocational training school so that you can succeed and integrate, without being asked: 'What do you have, and what can you offer?'."

A big wave in a short time

Such large-scale Syrian migration into Germany has only been going on for a relatively short time.

The characteristics of this new community – in a country known for its cold weather, economic leadership and a high level of political, social and personal freedom – will continue to evolve as their number rises.

But it is clear that Syrians in Germany are, for the first time, savouring the taste of personal, social, and political freedoms. In Germany, they are free from the suffering they left behind in their homeland and the constant fear. There are no more security agencies.

They also lack the historical baggage that came with other waves of migration into Europe during the colonial and post-colonial eras, such as the movement of Algerians into France.

And so, Syrian Germany is unique and is relatively early in its evolution and development.