What happened to Willkommenskultur?
In 2015, as millions of Syrians fled the civil war raging in their country, Angela Merkel made the critical decision of not closing Germany’s borders to refugees. Through the lens of German history, we can understand in part why she made this decision. As with all international conflict post-WWII, Germany had to balance not overstepping on the international stage, but also pulling their weight in proportion to their newly achieved size and economic status. One perspective is that it was not so long ago that Jewish people and other Germans sought refuge in other countries in the face of atrocity during the Holocaust. One could see the Syrian people fleeing the atrocity of civil war as not so different and warranting similar international aid. Furthermore, Germany relied on immigrants in its labor market from the 1950s-90s, as predominantly Turkish Gastarbeiter, or guest workers, came to Germany to support its economy. The Gastarbeiter were not treated particularly well in Germany in terms of acquiring citizenship or integration, however, they overwhelmingly became part of the German social fabric. Merkel’s moral stand was one of radical empathy, but the refugees were coming regardless of whether they were wanted. Germany was also pushed to accept refugees in order to lessen the flow of refugees that were overwhelming Greece and Italy, who were less equipped and willing to accept Syrians. At this time, Greece was still reeling from its bankruptcy and EU/IMF bailout. The resistance to accepting refugees was not just rooted in economic constraints, however, it also had to do with racism and Islamophobia. In Hungary, Syrian refugees were met with violence under the right-wing nationalist Orbán government. For this reason, Merkel relaxed German immigration policy with Austria, so Syrians could get out of Hungary. Another angle to understanding the context of Merkel’s decision is that she belonged to the CDU/CSU, which previously opposed accepting refugees from Balkan countries. Thus, her party was generally averse to immigration, especially from non-Christians.
Initially, Germans warmly invited the Syrians who had been through so much; Willkommenskultur, or welcome culture, was born. Kampfner illustrated that “from 2014 to July 2019, more than 1.4 million people applied for asylum in Germany, which is nearly half of all applications to the EU.” It is important to note that not all those who immigrated to Germany were Syrian, but that others took advantage of Germany’s policy at the time. Slowly but surely, Germans became less enthusiastic about the new refugees. Instances of crime reportedly perpetrated by refugees were leveraged to create an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant narrative. The group to capitalize on this the most was the right-wing AfD, which shifted its policy focus from economic sovereignty to immigration. In 2017, the AfD was elected into the Bundestag, lending the party legitimacy. The rise of Islamophobia was paired with the formation of the far-right extremist group Pegida, which was most popular in the East and offered people with anti-Islamic sentiment a social nook. The AfD’s populist language, especially towards refugees, was decidedly unacceptable in even the CDU/CSU.
The Syrian refugees in Germany have faced harsh challenges trying to rebuild their lives in a foreign place. After 2015, immigration policy subsequently tightened, making it more difficult to seek asylum. In Germany, integration is the expectation of immigrants, leaving people feeling socially displaced and conflicted about having to sever pieces of their identity to be accepted. Language is a key part of German integration, thus disadvantaging those with a language barrier. On the surface level, native Germans still understand being German as being white, which otherizes non-white people. Some Syrians have made the difficult choice of assimilating into German culture in order to hopefully prosper. In 2022, Reuters reported that “while, in general, a person has to live in Germany for at least eight years to qualify for citizenship, the majority of Syrians qualified earlier — on average after 6.5 years — by showing particular willingness to integrate, for example with strong language skills and civic commitment.” Germany is a primarily Christian country, and fails to welcome Muslim people with the same warmth as Christians. When Russia began its attack on Ukraine, Ukrainians poured across Europe, and Germany had open arms for these white Christians. Ukrainians faced much more relaxed rules for entering and integrating into Germany. The differential treatment of migrants has racial, ethnic, and religious reasons. Additionally, similar to the narrative in the US, there is a belief that immigrants pose a threat to low-wage workers in the labor market and this fosters more anti-immigrant sentiment. In Germany, Syrian refugees and other non-white migrants were seen as taking jobs from the working class, fueling populist sentiment, and drawing support for the AfD.
Germany is guilty of unequal treatment of migrants. Its current course is not socially sustainable, and popular opinion must change to reflect more than a white, monoracial society because it simply is not reality anymore. Globalization insists that we broaden our understanding of national identity, and Germany must grapple with what it means to be German. Such a narrow understanding cannot continue to sustain a country that is home to more than just white Christians, whether everyone likes it or not. Just because its EU counterparts have accepted fewer refugees or done less to maintain a unified Europe does not give Germany a pass to discriminate and do so as blatantly as it has. While Germany may be more open to immigration than other countries, the standard is low, and it is not a reason to praise them. Instead, it is key that Germany shifts to a true Multikulti to accommodate all those who find themselves there, and that it treats migrants with equal dignity.
