As many as 419,000 Afghan decedents currently living in Germany marking it the 3rd biggest diaspora of Afghans outside Afghanistan, according to a study on Tuesday.
The number of Afghans living in Germany has increased significantly over the last decade, especially since 2022, the German Council of Experts on Migration and Integration said.
In 2023, there were around 419,000 people, which is around 0.5 per cent of Germany’s total population. It is the third biggest diaspora outside of Afghanistan after Pakistan and Iran.
The majority of Afghans feel welcome in Germany, even if this feeling diminished over time.
In addition, respondents with a high level of general education are more critical than those without a school-leaving qualification.
The findings indicate that economic participation can have a strong influence on emotional attitudes towards Germany.
Respondents most frequently reported discrimination when looking for accommodation (32%), in contact with authorities (22%) and in the healthcare system (19%). 44 per cent cite family reunification as the most important challenge at present.
However, the future of the federal humanitarian admission programme for Afghanistan, which was launched in 2022, is uncertain.
‘Ending the programme prematurely without even coming close to reaching the planned admission figures would send a problematic signal to the Afghan community living here, who still have close relatives in their country of origin. (The reverse is: the struggle of being alone).
26% believe that German politicians are paying enough attention to the needs of Afghan people. 53 per cent think they are not given enough attention.
A good two thirds cannot imagine returning to Afghanistan.
86 per cent state that they would be naturalised in Germany if this were possible. Social networks in Germany, on the other hand, are relatively underdeveloped (as yet).
Half of the respondents have no frequent or close contact with either Germans or Afghans living in Germany. This showed that building a social network takes time.
Rather, two groups seem to be emerging: People who have a large number of social contacts overall, i.e. both local and transnational, and others who have few contacts. In order to improve the social integration of the Afghan population in Germany, diaspora associations and other civil society organisations could, for example, approach Afghan communities in a more targeted manner, especially new immigrants.
The topic also includes the responsibility of the (German) media to report on Afghan immigration in a differentiated manner and to include the views of those affected.
Dialogue formats and cooperation between government agencies (for example in the areas of integration, education, anti-discrimination and the prevention of extremism) and the Afghan community would be a possible approach.
Community would be a possible approach to promoting participation and, if necessary, counteracting radical tendencies.
The issue of refugee migration and integration is the subject of heated debate; the political
and public discourse is often skeptical, if not hostile.
Refugees from Afghanistan have recently been the focus of a great deal of negative attention – often triggered by isolated incidents (New Year’s Eve Köln Hauptbahnhof, Solingen & Mannheim murders i.e.)
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