Opinion poll
Narrow majority judges consequences of immigration negatively
A reform of citizenship law will come into force on 27 June. Photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
A good half of German citizens believe that immigration is not good for Germany overall. The biggest concerns relate to available housing and questions of internal security.
A majority of Germans see immigration less as an opportunity and more as a threat. In a survey conducted by the YouGov opinion research institute, many participants also expressed criticism of certain changes in citizenship law, which had recently been reformed by the traffic light coalition. As the results of the representative survey show, 32 percent of German citizens see immigration to Germany as an opportunity. 59 percent of respondents chose the answer options “more of a threat” (32 percent) or “big threat” (27 percent). Nine percent of respondents had no opinion on the matter.
Germans are particularly negative about the consequences for internal security and the housing market. However, there were more positive than negative assessments when asked about the effects of immigration on economic growth and technological progress. According to YouGov, negative assessments predominated when it came to the health, pension and social systems.
The institute collected the data between May 31 and June 5. Only people with German citizenship took part in the survey.
Naturalisations possible earlier in the future
The reform of citizenship law will come into force on June 27. Naturalization will then be possible after five years instead of the previous eight, and under certain conditions after just three years. Such conditions include good performance in school or at work, good language skills or voluntary work. Multiple citizenship will generally be permitted.
According to the survey, a small majority of Germans do not agree with the shortened waiting periods or with the general possibility of keeping one’s old citizenship. 53 percent of respondents rejected both changes. 34 percent of Germans view the newly created possibility of multiple citizenship positively. The shortening of the waiting period to five or three years is well received by 35 percent of German citizens.
When it comes to immigration, Germans currently believe that the Union parties have the greatest competence. According to the survey, one in five people believe that the CDU and CSU are more competent than other parties. 17 percent see the AfD as having the greatest competence on this issue. The SPD, Greens, Left, FDP and BSW each achieved values of less than 9 percent. It is noteworthy that 22 percent of respondents do not see any of the parties mentioned as having great competence on immigration issues. A further 16 percent of respondents answered “don’t know”.