Create integration services for all refugees

"The war in Ukraine pushed our administrative structures to their limits last year," says Julius Fogelstaller. He is the integration officer in the district of Dachau near Munich, and he is responsible for the sustainable integration of refugees and immigrants who recently arrived in the community. The Russia’s war in Ukraine is significantly affecting his work. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, around a million people sought refuge in Germany in 2022 from the Russian invasion – a humanitarian catastrophe that poses new challenges for cities and rural counties across Germany. Here, refugees face not only a fresh start, but they must also gain a foothold in places where administrative structures are already at full capacity. Although municipalities and counties in many places are creating a comprehensive range of services to support refugees with emergency care, online consultation hours and other assistance, administrations are also increasingly reaching their limits.

The mass influx of refugees in 2022 presented a huge hurdle for municipalities and districts across Germany –and at the same time revealed structural deficits. Indeed, work towards integration with its multi-layered challenges was already underway well before the war in Ukraine. The reason: there is no common mandate for implementing integration across Germany. That means financing concepts are inconsistent, and a lack of overarching structures as well as many temporary workers complicate the daily work of those involved.

In the long term, the county of Weilheim-Schongau takes a critical view of special offers that are only accessible to refugees from Ukraine. "We feel a great willingness to help refugees from Ukraine here," Claudia Neuner-Dietsch says, describing the reaction of people who live there. "But our other refugees also feel somewhat overshadowed. That was never our goal and should not remain like this in the long run. That's why, as part of the Land.Home.Future program, we made a conscious decision to develop our services for all refugees and immigrants and not just for a specific group." During the initial conception phase in May 2020, the project focused on women and families – groups of people who are found in all immigration cohorts and are therefore relevant across the board.

"It is important to us to develop offers together with the immigrants that they can actually use. We want integration at eye level – and with our target group," says Ingeborg Bias-Putzier. This approach also responds to structural challenges for successful integration work that the district faces: Weilheim-Schongau is a traditionally Christian rural area, also known as "the Pfaffeneck," or “parson’s corner,” due to its large number of churches and monasteries. Economically, it is characterized by trades and agriculture, small businesses and a rather conservative society.

In 2020 – at the beginning of the project – interactions between locals and immigrants were still very reserved. "This was also because there were few opportunities for contact, and they simply did not know each other," Bias-Putzier recalls. Together with her team, she wanted to create opportunities and spaces where refugees and immigrants could engage in exchange with locals. 

While Weilheim-Schongau has already come a long way and their app is now available to the public, the Dachau district is currently working with the "Land.Home.Future" program on an approach to improve local integration work in the future. The team led by Julius Fogelstaller is addressing a basic need for all people: finding a living space of their own. "One of our challenges is that we have to house people appropriately," says Fogelstaller. "Housing that's well-integrated and has enough space is hugely important for people to meet others, feel safe and cared for, or to invite people in." 

But this is currently in short supply. Around 1,500 apartments are lacking in the district for people with difficult access to housing. The waiting lists for social housing are long, with a waiting time of around seven years currently. Fogelstaller also blames the proximity to the city: "We are in the Munich metropolitan area. The housing market is extremely tight here, even for people with regular incomes. This makes the hurdles for immigrants even higher," he says. 

With the "Land.Home.Future" program, he now wants to tackle this challenge – at a time when the war in Ukraine has increased tensions in the housing market even more. But, he says, "We have been approached by many people who wanted to take refugees into their homes," Fogelstaller says. "At the same time, many questions have arisen: What requirements do I have to meet? What government support services are available?"