Rights and obligations
Germany now has its first Integration Act. The law facilitates the integration of refugees into society, but also defines their obligations.
Now, for the first time, Germany has an Integration Act. It is intended to make it easier for refugees to settle in society by defining their rights and obligations. Among other things, there will be increased capacities in language courses, as well as work and training programmes. Refugees will be allowed to take on small jobs during the asylum process – 100,000 of these new work opportunities will be created. Tolerated refugees with a place on a training programme will also receive the right to remain for the duration of their apprenticeship and subsequent employment. At the same time, the new law also defines asylum seekers’ obligations. If they reject integration programmes, their support will be reduced. Furthermore, refugees must live in the town to which they have been allocated by the respective state for the first three years. It is important, says Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, “to see integration as an offer to the people who have come to us, but also as an expectation: that they learn the German language and that they observe our laws.”
