German far-right worries skilled immigrants – DW – 07/06/2023

The German government is dealing with two of the most pressing challenges facing the country, which have turned out to be linked: the growth of the far-right and the demographic decline.

The first is the most urgent: Alternative for Germany (AfD)It is the far-right, anti-immigrant party, and it is currently the largest political force in several eastern German states with a popularity of up to More and more voters.

The second is long-term and, according to economists, may threaten the country’s prosperity: a looming demographic gap in the country’s workforce, which It will require more immigrationBusiness leaders warn.

The government has already introduced A law to reduce bureaucratic obstacles to applying for a job in GermanyBut the political atmosphere is more difficult to control. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, referring to the AfD, warned at an event in eastern Germany, “A party that wants to seal the country and introduces xenophobic clichés is the sand in the wheels of the economy.”

News of the far right reaches India

Racism is a problem in Germany It’s hard to deny: a Report on Islamophobia Commissioned by the government and published last month, it concluded that anti-Muslim racism is “widespread across broad layers of society and is an everyday reality.” and this is It’s not the only recent report on the subject, nor the only kind of racism country submission

One wonders to what extent these fears prevent people from moving to Germany. Ulrich Cooper is the director of the Democracy and Social Cohesion Program at the University of Berlin Think tank of the Bertelsmann Foundation, he acknowledges the problem, but also qualifies, in an interview with DW, that “immigration decisions are very complex.” According to him, “there is never a single factor: people have different priorities when choosing where to migrate.”

However, “when far-right groups are on the rise in Germany, or when far-right politicians win office, that’s news in foreign countries,” Cooper admits to DW. So information about Islamophobia and the successes and scandals of the AfD has already reached foreign media, such as Times of India: “People know what is happening in Germany.”

This was also corroborated by Shivam Mehrotra, an Indian IT manager who has spent the past five years working for a company in Brandenburg (one of the German states where the AfD is currently leading in opinion polls). Mehrotra, who advises other immigrants on how to deal with the German bureaucracy, says Indians considering moving abroad often consider these kinds of stories.

“I don’t think it’s a decisive factor in deciding whether or not to come to Germany, but the direction the country takes will be taken into account,” he told DW.

Opportunities, quality of life, and awareness of the past

Many institutions, from corporate-funded think tanks like the Bertelsmann Foundation to international organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), conduct regular research on what makes countries attractive and to whom.

They concluded that the most important factors were income potential, career prospects, and quality of life. In all these aspects, according to Cooper, Germany is in a good position. But it is competing with other rich countries that need new workers, and the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom have a huge advantage because most of the world speaks English.

After all, for Mehrotra, an Indian computer scientist who has established his residence in Brandenburg, and for his wife, two things tipped the decision in favor of Germany: “One was the humane and economic way Germany is managing COVID. It’s been amazing.”

“And the other thing that really moved us was the ethic of this country. I come from a country that was a British colony, and if you look at the polls, people of our generation in Britain still think colonialism was a good thing. In Germany, kids learn Nazi history in schools,” he says. Really acknowledging the past is very ethical. And that made me really connect with Germany.”

(gg/rml)