VIDEO. How Germany is successfully integrating migrants with the help of tens of thousands of volunteer citizens

Most of them came from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, 1.2 million migrants were able to enter Germany in two years to escape the war. Despite the demonstrations orchestrated by the far right and the refusal of part of the Germans to welcome them, ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel held firm: “Germany is a strong country, and we have to say to ourselves: ‘We have achieved so many things so far … We are going to get there.'” she declared on August 31, 2015.

Germany arrived there with political will, financial means and also with the commitment of tens of thousands of German volunteers, sensitive to the plight of migrants. Every week, for example, foreigners take part in workshops to improve their German by talking to locals. These language courses are compulsory, with 600 hours of training for each foreigner.

“We share knowledge”

The association providing free German as a foreign language courses has no shortage of teachers: “The people who live in the neighborhood all come to see spontaneously, telling us that they have two hours of free time in the week and that they know how to do this or that. So we share the knowledge”explains Marina Naprushkina, volunteer and founder of the association Neue Nachbarschaft (in German), to the magazine “We, the Europeans” (replay).

Learning the language is certainly one of the best ways to integrate into a country, but the issue of housing for these newcomers also had to be resolved. While it took a while, three out of four refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015 left emergency accommodation.

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