“Im Sommer 2015 kamen viele Geflüchtete in Deutschland an. Afghanistan ist nach Syrien das zweitstärkste Herkunftsland. Der große Teil der afghanischen Flüchtlinge hat sich in diesen drei Jahren gut integriert. Trotz aller Hürden haben viele schon die Sprache gelernt und bereits eine Ausbildung angefangen. Wenn ich von Hürden spreche, meine ich die, von denen insbesondere Afghanen betroffen sind. Sie gehören zur Gruppe von Geflüchteten mit einer Schutzquote von weniger als 50 %, das heißt, nur noch bei weniger als der Hälfte aller Asylentscheidungen werden berechtigte Fluchtgründe anerkannt. Konkret bedeutet dies, dass Afghanen keinen Anspruch auf einen Integrationskurs haben; denn einen Zugang zu diesen Kursen während des laufenden Asylverfahrens erhalten nur Geflüchtete mit einer „guten Bleibeperspektive“. 11Berlin unterstützt dieses Engagement durch das Angebot von kostenlosen Deutschkursen für alle Geflüchteten unabhängig vom Herkunftsland (Anmerkung der Verfasserin). Aber auch ohne den rechtlichen Anspruch bemühen sich viele, die deutsche Sprache zu lernen und sich in ihrem neuen Land zu integrieren.
Die Einordnung in die Kategorie einer sog. ‘geringen Bleibeperspektive’, die einem je nach Herkunftsland automatisch zugeschrieben wird, erschwert auch die Suche nach einem Ausbildungsplatz. Ich möchte zum Beispiel Hebamme werden. In Berlin gibt es aber mit etwa 60 Plätzen nur sehr wenige Ausbildungsplätze in diesem Bereich. Und da werden bevorzugt Deutsche eingestellt, danach EU-Bürger, dann eventuell auch Geflüchtete mit einer Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Als Geflüchtete ohne Aufenthaltsgenehmigung werde ich dazu kaum eine Chance bekommen. Würde ich aber in einer anderen Stadt einen Ausbildungsplatz finden, dürfte ich als Asylbewerberin wegen der Residenzpflicht gar nicht erst hingehen. Diese Probleme vermindern nicht nur meine Chancen zu einer guten Integration, sondern rauben auch die Motivation. Würde der Staat statt solcher Einschränkungen schon früh bessere Integrationsbedingungen schaffen, könnte das Ergebnis bei der Integration von Geflüchteten viel besser ausfallen, obwohl die Zahlen auch jetzt schon gut aussehen.
Ich habe mittlerweile gut Deutsch gelernt, meinen Hauptschulabschluss gemacht und befinde mich gerade in einer Ausbildung zur Pflegeassistentin, was Voraussetzung für eine Hebammenausbildung ist. Das heißt, ich bin angekommen, nehme teil an der Gesellschaft und versuche mich so gut es geht zu integrieren. Nun wurde mein Asylantrag abgelehnt. Ob ich bleiben kann und wie es für mich weitergeht, ist völlig offen. Das neue Konzept, das mit ‘Angekommen in Berlin‘ überschrieben ist, gilt bisher für mich leider noch nicht, denn ich weiß immer noch nicht, wann ich tatsächlich angekommen sein werde.”
Somayeh Rasouli, 2018
Zuerst veröffentlicht in der kulturTÜR, dem Magazin von und für Geflüchtete und ihre Nachbarn. Die kulturTÜR ist ein Projekt der DRK Berlin Südwest gGmbH und wird gefördert mit Mitteln des bezirklichen Integrationsfonds Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Der Integrationsfond ist eine Maßnahme des Gesamtkonzepts zur Integration und Partizipation Geflüchteter des Senats von Berlin.
“In the summer of 2015 many refugees arrived in Germany. Afghanistan is the second largest country of origin after Syria. The majority of Afghan refugees have integrated well in these three years. Despite all the hurdles, many of them have already learned the language and have already started an apprenticeship. When I speak of hurdles, I mean those that affect Afghans in particular. They belong to the group of refugees with a protection rate of less than 50%, which means that less than half of all asylum decisions recognize justified reasons for flight. In concrete terms, this means that Afghans are not entitled to an integration course, since only refugees with ‘good prospects to remain‘ are granted access to such courses during the ongoing asylum procedure. 11Berlin supports this commitment by offering free German language courses for all refugees regardless of their country of origin (author’s note). But even without the legal entitlement, many people make an effort to learn the German language and integrate in their new country.
Classification in the category of a so-called ‘little prospect to remain‘, which is automatically attributed to one depending on the country of origin, also makes the search for a training place more difficult. For example, I would like to become a midwife. In Berlin, however, there are only very few training positions in this field, with about 60 places available. And there, Germans are preferred to be hired, followed by EU citizens and then possibly refugees with a residence permit. As a refugee without a residence permit, I will hardly get a chance. But if I were to find a training place in another city, I would not even be allowed to go there as an asylum seeker because of the residence obligation. These problems not only reduce my chances for a good integration, but also rob me of motivation. If the state were to create better integration conditions at an early stage instead of such restrictions, the result in the integration of refugees could be much better, although the statistics already look good.
In the meantime I have learned German well, graduated from secondary school and am currently in training to become a nursing assistant, which is a prerequisite for training as a midwife. This means that I have arrived, participate in society and try to integrate as well as I can. Now my asylum application has been rejected. Whether I can stay and how things will continue for me is completely open. The new concept, which is titled ‘Here in Berlin’, 22In German ‘Angekommen in Berlin’ which may be also translated as ‘Arrived in Berlin’ (editor’s note). is unfortunately not yet valid for me, because I still don’t know when I will actually arrive here in Berlin.”
Somayeh Rasouli, 2018
First published in kulturTÜR, the magazine by and for refugees and their neighbors. The kulturTÜR is a project of the DRK Berlin Südwest gGmbH and is supported with funds from the district integration fund (bezirklichen Integrationsfonds) Steglitz-Zehlendorf. The integration fund (Integrationsfond) is a measure of the overall concept for integration and participation of refugees (Gesamtkonzept zur Integration und Partizipation Geflüchteter) of the Berlin Senate.
Somayeh Rasouli was born and raised in Iran as an Afghan citizen. She came to Berlin in September 2016. In order to fulfill her dream of becoming a midwife, she began training as a nurse. She writes for the magazine kulturTÜR, which is made by and for refugees and their neighbors in Berlin. KulturTÜR is a project of the DRK (German Red Cross) and is supported by the city of Berlin. The article “Here in Berlin?” was also published in this magazine.
The title refers to the Berlin Senate’s comprehensive programme of the same name “for the integration and participation of refugees” in the city. Somayeh Rasouli mentions, among other things, that this program made it possible for her to attend a language course even as an Afghan citizen. Federal-funded integration courses can only be attended by people with a residence permit or high prospects to remain. The Berlin Senate, however, has decided to finance supplementary offers for people who do not have access to these federally funded courses. Nevertheless, Somayeh still encounters obstacles in her arrival and new beginning process due to her belonging to a group with “little prospects to remain”, for example, when looking for a training position.
The fact that her successful efforts do not promise any secure prospects in the end, because her asylum application is rejected, leads her to the critical conclusion that the Berlin motto “(arrived) here in Berlin” cannot be valid for her as long as there is no certainty about her legal status.
In recent years, Afghanistan has almost always been one of the five countries from which most people in Germany apply for asylum. 11Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Demografie von Asylsuchenden in Deutschland, in: bpb, 09.06.2020: https://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/migration/flucht/zahlen-zu-asyl/265710/demografie (17.08.2020). There are many debates about whether deportations can take place despite the still very unstable and insecure situation in the country and whether the drastically decreased recognition rate for asylum seekers from Afghanistan is justified. 22See: Pro Asyl, 2017: Afghanistan: No safe country for refugees, https://www.proasyl.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PRO_ASYL_Afghanistan_Broschuere_englisch_web_Mai17.pdf (17.08.2020).
Even if some changes have been made to the regulations mentioned here in the meantime – for example, the priority examination (Vorrangprüfung), according to which the Employment Agency had to check whether an EU citizen has a priority claim to a job or training place, was largely suspended from 2019 33Flüchtlingsrat Berlin: 06.08.2019: Wegfall der Vorrangprüfung für Asylbewerber und Geduldete ab sofort dauerhaft und bundesweit, in: Flüchtlingsrat Berlin e.V., 2019: https://fluechtlingsrat-berlin.de/news_termine/06-08-2019-wegfall-der-vorrangpruefung-fuer-asylbewerber-und-geduldete-ab-sofort-dauerhaft-und-bundesweit/ (17.08.2020). – access to the labor market, language courses, etc. remains very difficult for many refugees in Germany and is aggravated by an uncertain residence status.
Original in German:
Rasouli, Somayeh: Angekommen in Berlin?, in: kulturTÜR, 2018, http://www.kulturtuer.net/2019/05/05/angekommen-in-berlin/ (06.08.2020).
First published in kulturTÜR, the magazine by and for refugees and their neighbors. The kulturTÜR is a project of the DRK Berlin Südwest gGmbH and is supported with funds from the district integration fund (bezirklichen Integrationsfonds) Steglitz-Zehlendorf. The integration fund (Integrationsfond) is a measure of the overall concept for integration and participation of refugees (Gesamtkonzept zur Integration und Partizipation Geflüchteter) of the Berlin Senate.
Translation to English © Minor Kontor.
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