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Service signs in German and English stand between shelter buildings for asylum seekers in Berlin, Germany, on September 25, 2023. Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany will allow asylum seekers to enter the workforce sooner under a new law, a German interior ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, while stressing that employment will not affect the outcome of asylum applications.
The law, part of the Sofort-in-Arbeit-Plan, Immediately-into-Work Plan, announced by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in February, will allow asylum seekers to work after three months in the country.
The spokesperson told Rudaw in an email that the change “will have no impact on the processing or outcome of the asylum procedure.”
Work permits will not be granted to asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, the official said. The law also excludes those from countries that Germany and other European Union countries consider generally safe for their citizens to return to, as well as applicants who fail to cooperate with authorities, including those who “hide their identity or provide false information about their reasons for migration.”
The spokesperson did not provide figures on how many asylum seekers are expected to benefit from the new law but said it will be implemented in line with the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), a legal and policy framework meant to ensure asylum seeker rights are protected, and their applications are treated fairly across EU members.
The legislation is expected to be approved by the German parliament, or Bundestag, “in the near future,” according to the ministry spokesperson.
This comes as Germany has intensified deportations amid growing pressure from far-right parties that oppose expanded migration pathways.
In December, the federal cabinet approved the framework for creating a digital Work and Stay Agency (WSA), aimed at reforming and accelerating skilled immigration procedures. Its rollout is supposed to “take place step by step in the coming years.”
Demographic change and the retirement of hundreds of thousands of employees have confronted Germany with a major labor shortage, with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) estimating an annual gap of 400,000 workers that must be filled to keep the economy stable.
Kehy Mahmoud contributed to this report from Erbil.
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