The admission and accommodation of asylum seekers and refugees are urgent problems for which short-term solutions need to be found. In the medium and long term, however, the focus needs to be on social integration, language acquisition, training and employment.
There are also many questions. Are refugees permitted to complete training if their residency status is uncertain? What are the barriers that stand in their way in this regard, and to what support provision do they have access? What experiences have been gained from local practice?
Answers to these and other questions are provided by a Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) dossier entitled "Refugees – training and labour market Integration", which is available on qualiboXX, a specialist portal for the transition from school to work.
The portal offers the latest information on statutory regulations as well as including concepts and analyses and practical examples of guidance and training projects for refugees. The aims of compiling such data are to provide participants and interested parties with the information they need and to support the practical work going on at a local level.
Vocational education and training is an area that will be facing particular challenges in the coming years. Successful completion of a vocational qualification and access to training and employment are of fundamental importance in order to achieve integration in Germany.
"As we accept refugees into Germany, we already need to be thinking about the next stage of the process, which is their integration," stresses BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser. "For many, the best route will be access to vocational training or a direct opportunity to work in the occupation in which they have trained. In providing current information on general legal conditions, concepts, analyses and existing examples of good practice, BIBB is supporting vocational education and training stakeholders."
In a video interview with BIBB, an expert lawyer specialising in aliens and asylum law explains that the conditions under which refugees are permitted to work in Germany are now less stringent. He breaks down a complicated topic in a manner that is comprehensible to a lay person, responds to key questions and expounds upon specific amendments to legal regulations governing access to training and the labour market and associated funding measures.
Responses are provided to questions such as whether young refugees have a secure right to stay during the time they are completing training, whether refugees are allowed to work whilst an asylum procedure is ongoing and which authorisations need to be obtained in order to undertake an internship.
Experiences from the "Early Intervention" pilot project are also presented. A practical report based on an interview with four project partners in Bremen highlights such matters as the great importance of commencement of language support in a timely manner following entry to the country.
The dossier also contains further examples from practice and a large number of references to important legal regulations. There are, for example, brief summaries and responses to further questions regarding access to internships, training and employment and information in condensed form on current pilot projects and programmes.
All in all, visitors to the site will find a comprehensive service which further encompasses background information, positions and conceptual approaches to the training and labour market integration of refugees.
The BIBB dossier will be updated and supplemented on an ongoing basis in order to be able to report on the latest status.