How soon after their arrival should asylum seekers be allowed to work? The Greens are calling for an end to all work bans. The FDP is calling for a concept to grant work permits digitally and unbureaucratically.
According to representatives of the SPD, politicians from the coalition partners FDP and the Greens have also spoken out in favor of refugees having quicker and easier access to the labor market in the future. However, the requirements differ in detail.
Katharina Dröge, leader of the Green Party in the Bundestag, advocated allowing refugees to work immediately after their arrival in Germany. To date, a work ban has been in effect for at least the first three months and, due to various exceptions, sometimes significantly longer. “We finally need a complete abolition of the many still existing work bans for refugees,” Dröge told the newspapers of the Funke media group. This is “sensible and can be implemented in the short term”.
FDP is urging states to submit a concept
The FDP parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Christian Dürr, advocated accelerating the entry into work of refugees. “I expect the federal states to come up with a concept by the next migration summit at the latest on how the immigration authorities will issue work permits digitally and unbureaucratically in the future,” he told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” (FAS).
The recognition of professional qualifications is also “a horror issue,” explained Dürr. “Large companies might be able to manage it, but the master painter with five journeymen is completely overwhelmed.”
Economy for fewer bans and bureaucracy
He received support for his demands from business. “In our view, it would be beneficial to minimize the length of the work ban for early integration into the labor market,” a spokeswoman for the logistics group DHL told the FAS. It is important to “enable early contact between companies and those willing to work.” In addition, all people with asylum and residence status should be given expanded access to integration courses and job-related language training.
Crafts President Jörg Dittrich also spoke up with calls for the unbureaucratic integration of refugees into the labor market. “We have to be much more pragmatic. An entrepreneur should decide for himself who he can employ in his company. This should be possible without language tests and integration courses,” said the President of the Central Association of German Crafts to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. If someone works, they may learn the language much faster and integrate much more easily.
Scholz at Labor market access for pragmatism
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously spoken out in favor of more asylum seekers being able to work. “I share the understanding of many people who say: If there is work that needs to be done and there is someone who could do it, then they should do it,” said Scholz in the SWR’s Weekly Interview. However, one should not confuse the issues of flight and persecution with labor immigration.
Contradiction to the idea of compulsory charitable work
SPD leader Saskia Esken also called for more employment opportunities for asylum seekers. “Many who want to work are not allowed – we have to overcome that by reducing employment bans,” Esken told the newspapers of the Bavaria media group. If there were companies that wanted to employ asylum seekers, “then no employment ban should prevent that,” explained the politician.
Unlike co-party leader Lars Klingbeil, she is skeptical about compulsory charitable work for asylum seekers, as Austria is planning. They don’t want to employ cheap workers, but rather “use people in the regular labor market according to their skills and competencies.” There is enough need there, said Esken. The Green party leader Dröge also said that she was very critical of the demands for mandatory charitable work for refugees.
Klingbeil had shown himself willing to talk with a view to the Union’s initiative to require asylum seekers to do community service during their procedure. Austria is already planning this. The CSU chairman Markus Söder has announced a corresponding program.