Not To Be Confused

Often you assemble German data or statistics on immigration or asylum, you have to take in the 'big picture'.

Just because the BaMF folks (in charge of immigration for Germany) say that 500,000 arrived....it doesn't mean 500,000 asylum-seekers.  It means that various groups either asked for immigration status, work status, or asylum. 

A good example....you could have 25,000 Poles arrive and announce themselves.  Because Poland is part of the EU, other than registering at the local city hall....they have the right to work there in Germany.  Those 25,000 Poles would be counted as part of the 500,000 number.  The same would be true for 10,000-odd Greeks coming for a job, or 12,000 Italians.

Another example....Americans could be counted in on the 500,000 number but they chiefly come in on jobs offered and gain work papers.  The vast majority are not asking for immigration status or asylum status.  Their primary intent would be to work for some German company for three to five years, then return to the US.

Chinese requesting immigration status?  They could be counted as part of the 500,000.  Most are bringing in some cash, and want a business venture (a shop, a restaurant, a hotel, etc.  They are not asylum-seekers.

So who typically comes to claim asylum (not asking for a work-visa or plain immigration)?  It's typically people who don't have a lot of opportunity, chances, or leaving a war-zone.  For some, there's the belief that asylum is a guaranteed thing.  Statistics for the German approvals don't really agree with the term 'guaranteed thing'.  If you have the war zone status, there's a higher approval rate, and no one disagrees about that.  For people from some country in serious economic negativity?   The approval rate isn't that high.  You improve your odds by having a skill-craft or university degree.  If the best you've done over the past five years is operate a fruit-cart....well, it just doesn't work on approval of a visa.

A lot of data which just doesn't easily tell a story?  Yes, and for Germans....this is difficult to assemble and rationalize some trend, or some failure.  You could probably gather data from the past decade from BamF and show that virtually every single South Korean (except for the five in Frankfurt accused of torture and 2nd-degree murder) have been honest and productive immigrants.  You can probably assemble all the data for the Venezuelans who've come in the past five years....to show not a single arrest has occurred within that group.  You can probably find data to suggest all Syrians with a university degree have assimilated into German society, and been productive assets for the nation. 

How all this figures into the new Med-rescue crisis?  Well, that's the curious thing.  When you see this played out, most of the pro-rescue crowd wants pre-approved scenarios for the rescued, meaning they won't fill out the paperwork or be given a process of approval.  That suggests that the applicant probably doesn't have the war-zone situation being played out, and that their education/skill craft doesn't really amount to much.  In other words....if you followed the traditional process....most of the rescued would fail the applicant process.

So if all of this chatter is a bit confusing....well, asylum, integration and immigration just isn't a practical 'science' or anchored-down process.   As much as you'd think that the Germans would go and define one single process and path....it goes into revisions or evolution almost every single year.