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| A display on Oldenburg's refugee past in the Museums |
I was deeply impressed by Migrationszentrum project which showed what can realistically
achieved for new citizens. In this
vast and busy centre, refugees from all over the world were busily engaged in
vocational training. The complex
contained a carpentry workshop, a hairdressers and a second-hand clothes shop
where clothes were processed, packaged and resold (a realpolitik exercise in commerce).The cooks, accountants, salespeople, gardeners, warehouse
manager, all jobs were undertaken by refugees in-training each supported by
German lessons, a work coach, occupational therapist, social worker and
psychologist. Migrationszentrum cannot choose who it takes on, and so not all
will make it to employment or be able to adjust well, but they have an
outstanding chance.
There were several arts projects on the go into which we
were immediately inducted (planting a seedling, signing our names on an installation). The atmosphere throughout was one of
happy, purposeful productivity, we heard stories from refugee men and women from
all over the world and we gave them our blessing.
This flagship project, one of three in currently in existence,
will be repeated across Germany.
It shows what can practically be done with and for refugees. Part-financed by the state, the centre
will have to drum up finance to ensure its survival beyond its initial three-year
tenure.
A huge investment and mobilisation of resources? Certainly. But then Germany has learned from experience about investing
wisely at the start to avoid future issues. “We won’t let that happen again. We won’t let (our migrants) become a parallel society” said the manager of the local InLingua
language school. Having won the state
contract for getting, en masse, the
latest citizens up to a basic level in German, he was referring to the ‘guest
worker’ programme of the 1970s relating largely to Turkish men who came to work
in Germany without rights or citizenship.
This created a generation of alienated, segregated people, setting up
social problems in the country for years to come.
This attitude of clear thinking and accountability went
through the whole system in our German experience. For example, in the earthy professionalism of the ladies of
ProConnect. Not every refugee
could be helped into work, but they’d give it their best shot. Educating employers, identifying
compatibilities, helping professional refugees to find equivalence for their
qualifications (Germany is tough on compliance), they were a cheery
user-interface of cultural inclusion. If I were
a refugee, I’d want someone like them to help me.
This compassionate and pragmatic response to migration felt
like cultural maturity. It is a
refusal to turn away from facts and responsibilities, shunning the ‘sugar
highs’ of populism and planning for the long haul. It is of course informed by the darker
notes of Germany’s uncomfortable past, and our hosts took us there too.
German Memory Culture keeps memories of the Holocaust or
‘Shoah’ alive by passing down testimonies from generation to generation. As the last survivors die out, Memory
Culture aims to ensure that this is not forgotten.
In sum, for me our German experience was both inspiring and
poignant. At what price cultural
maturity? Can other countries
learn from the German experience or do we have to go half-way to Hell to find
out for ourselves?
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