La be project how to overcome stereotypes - background research germany

This project has been funded with support the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Union. This
communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
1
Lampedusa,
Berlin.
Travel journalEurope for Citizens Program – Strand2: Democratic engagement and civic participation
2.3: Civil Society Project
Project: 577736-CITIZ-1-2016-1-IT-CITIZ-CIV
Partner meeting and conference
27-29 April 2017, Budapest (Hungary)
"How to overcome stereotypes about migrants?"
Stereotypes that circulate in the "everyday culture" in Germany
Practices for overcoming stereotypes towards migrants
Sozial Label e. V
.Authors: Herbert Spindler, Tatiana Calari, Claudio Cassetti

2
Stereotypes that circulate in the "everyday culture"
What are some of the main stereotypes of migrants and refugees that circulate in your
country?
(Can be shared representations in the "everyday culture", as well as to examples
taken from the mass media, web, etc.).
Introduction
Since the summer of 2015, the refugee crisis in Europe has grown to be one of the biggest
topic of discussions throughout Europe and covered by media on a daily basis. Germany in
particular has been the focus of migration. Over time, in Germany a shift could be observed,
from the initial hospitable Willkommenskultur (welcome culture), to more reserved and
skeptical points of view.
This was mirrored in the rise of civic movements which were sceptical or hostile to the
creation of emergency shelters in their neighbourhoods.
Especially right-radicals such as the NPD initiated or exploited numerous protests against the
reception of asylum seekers. Protests were also staged in affluent areas, motivated by a fear
of a fall in property values. In addition to protests there were also instances of violence
against refugee shelters, including many arson attacks and verbal attack against volunteers
and the criminalisation of refugees after the events in Köln
The current situation is one of strong polarization, the refugee issue has polarized not only
political parties but any kind of social institution.
Fears rising in the public opinion (strains on resources, security,
There are growing concerns about strains on resources and public services such as housing,
health and employment programs, and social tensions over internal security have increased
in the recent months. Events on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, when hundreds of women
celebrating in the central square were surrounded, sexually harassed and robbed by groups
of being said Middle Eastern and North African men, has been widely acknowledged as a
turning point in public opinion. The public expressed anger at Germany’s police, government
and media for not sharing information about the crimes accurately or quickly enough.
Analsys on three main newspapers (Suddeutsche Zeitung, Bild, die Welt)
Refugee voices appear most in Süddeutsche Zeitung and least in Bild. When refugees do
appear as sources it is usually within one of three contexts. The first involves refugees
describing what caused them to flee their country of origin or the journey that they took to
reach Europe

3
The second main context in which refugee voices appear is in relation to statements they
make about what their goals and aspirations are now that they have reached Germany.
The final context involves discussion of their perceptions or experiences of living in Germany.
These are mostly positive but can occasionally be negative as when refugees describe
encountering racism, hostility or violence.
What labels are used to describe refugees?
The German media is unusual in that it overwhelmingly uses the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum
seeker’ in its coverage. Whether tabloid or quality newspaper, right-wing or left of centre all
newspapers use these labels approximately 90% of the time. More neutral or pejorative
labels such as ‘immigrant’ ‘illegal’ or ‘foreigner’ are much more rarely used. The terms
Wirtschaftsfl chtlinge (Economic Refugee) or Wirtschaftsmigranten (Economic Migrant) are
very occasionally used in relation to people from Africa or the Balkans.
Bild
ddeutsche
Zeitung
Die
Welt
German
Average
l chtling(e) (Refugee) 77.0%70.0% 70.1% 70.3%
Asylsuchende(r)/ Asylbewerber (Asylum
Seeker)
15.8%21.2% 19.4% 20.2%
Migrant(en) (Migrant) 4.6% 5.3% 3.4% 4.6%
Immigrant(en)/ Einwanderer(in)/
Zuwanderer(in) (Immigrant)
2.6% 2.6% 4.1% 3.1%
Wirtschaftsfl chtlinge (Economic Refugee) 0% 0.5% 1.1% 0.7%
Illegale(r) (Illegal) 0.0% 0.6% 0.7% 0.6%
Wirtschaftsmigranten (Economic Migrant) 0% 0% 0.9% 0.3%
usl nder (Foreigner) 0.0% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1%
Total N 152 1264 705 2121
Table 6.5: Labels by German newspapers (each label as a proportion of total labels in each
publication)
Labels Connotation
Migrant(en)
neutral to negative; depending on
circumstances/reasons for migration
Immigrant(en)/ Einwanderer(in) /
Zuwanderer(in)
circumstances/reasons for migration
Asylbewerber
circumstances/reasons for asylum
Asylsuchende(r) neutral; the emphasis on "seeking" can evoke empathy
l chtling(e)
positive to neutral; can evoke empathy more easily,
especially during crisis
usl nder neutral to negative; depending on context
Illegale(r)* Negative

4
Table 6.5a: Valence of German labels
*Cannot stand alone, would always be followed by one of the labels above
owever, even here the usage of such terms is itself sometimes challenged within the article.
o for instance, in an article in ddeutsche eitung (22 December 2014) a writer comments
that ‘Only someone who has no clue about the situation would talk about ‘economic
refugees.’’
Themes in Coverage
In many respects the range of themes visible in the German press closely correspond to
what we might expect, bearing in mind the split between left and right leaning newspapers.
For instance, the right leaning newspapers - and particularly Die Welt - concentrate more
heavily on refugee numbers. The focus on numbers is frequently linked to arguments that
the scale of refugee flows is a problem which needs to be solved. Numbers are also tied to
arguments that Germany is taking in a disproportionate quantity of refugees in
comparison with other European nations. The prominence of this perspective is likely
attributable to the editorial line of the newspapers, while at the same time reflecting the fact
that some members of the CDU/CSU, who are the key political sources in the right-wing
press, have questioned whether Germany is taking too many refugees. The right of centre
titles are also considerably more likely to use threat frames than left of centre publications.
. Most security
threat themes were based on the argument that IS fighters could be hiding amongst
refugees trying to get into Europe as in the following examples in Die Welt:
Abuse of the terrorists: How IS fighters want to mix with refugees so as to make their way to
Europe (Headline, Die Welt, 24 February 2015)
The Islamic S
(Frontex). Die Welt, 13
March 2015)
Economic threats were also approximately twice as prevalent in Bild and Die Welt as they
were in ddeutsche eitung. Although there were some articles which argued that
refugees were coming to Germany to access welfare services, the dominant themes
here were the idea that the influx of refugees was putting a strain on public services or
the idea that refugees sometimes received preferential treatment in comparison to
German nationals:
Hartz IV and similar social services are more and more the main income of many pensioners
in Germany...Amongst them: Long term unemployed, pensioners, asylum seekers. (Bild, 2
December 2014)
But the deciding factor was the question, particularly amongst people with low income: Why
do people – ‘ – have accommodation, doctors, cable TV on the
tax budget - regardless of how much reason they have to seek asylum- whilst we are
paying rent, medical insurance and GEZ [radio and TV license] fees? (Die Welt, 24
March 2015)

5
The issue of cultural threat again was a theme more likely to be highlighted in the right-
wing press. This combined concerns about Islam, social cohesion and how the influx of
refugees from Africa and the Middle East would either struggle to assimilate into German
culture or would change it.
n contrast ddeutsche eitung was less likely to see refugees as economic, cultural or
security threat and more likely to feature positive stories about refugee success stories. The
paper was also far more likely to feature humanitarian themes which focused on the suffering
and hardship that refugees were either fleeing from, or had experienced on their journey to
Europe:
Bild
ddeutsche
Zeitung
Die
Welt
German
Average
Immigration Figures / Levels 58.1%52.7% 82.4% 64.4%
Search and Rescue / Aid Supplies 32.6%51.5% 35.1% 39.7%
Political Response / Policy 23.3%27.3% 55.4% 35.3%
Humanitarian (Elements) 20.9%33.3% 23.0% 25.7%
Mortality Figures 18.6%7.9% 24.3% 16.9%
Post-arrival Integration 4.7% 33.9% 5.4% 14.7%
Mafia / Traffic 7.0% 9.1% 25.7% 13.9%
Welfare / Benefits / Resources 11.6%6.1% 13.5% 10.4%
Humanitarian (Key Theme) 2.3% 13.3% 6.8% 7.5%
Receiving / Rejecting 2.3% 14.5% 4.1% 7.0%
Threat to Communities / Cultural Threat 9.3% 3.0% 8.1% 6.8%
Threat to National Security 7.0% 1.2% 10.8% 6.3%
Human Rights 4.7% 4.2% 9.5% 6.1%
Journey 9.3% 3.6% 4.1% 5.7%
Health Risk for Country of Destination 4.7% 3.6% 2.7% 3.7%
Migrant/Refugees/Asylum Seekers Success
Stories
0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 1.0%
Total N 95 474 246 815
Table 6.6: Themes by German newspapers (proportion of articles featuring each theme)
The argument that those who claim to be refugees are actually economic migrants does
appear in the German press but relatively rarely in comparison to some of the other countries
in our sample. This argument tended to be made in relation to refugees from the Balkans,
perhaps not surprisingly, as there is an apparent consensus amongst all papers that
migrants from ‘safe’ countries in the Balkans should be deported.
Thus, like the other countries in our sample, the German press - although in many ways very
positive about migration and asylum issues - contains relatively little information on what
could be done to mitigate the push factors driving refugee flows.

6
Most frequent stereotypes
Group stereotypes :
Refugees are criminals (Refugees are violent- Rape refugees)
Refugees pereceived as potential criminals, fear of a rise of criminal aggressions, migrants
are violent
After the new eve days in Koeln in 2015/2016 we have a new word appearing
« raperefugees »
These arguments » have been used by PEGDIA- Demonstrationen and AFD.
The most frequent fear about refugees in the public opinion is connected with the rise of the
crime rate in Germany. People feel like their security is under threat due to the many
foreigners arriving en masse. What the far-right regards as an absolute truth while federal
statistics show migrants playing a minimum role in crime
Refugees and cultural differences
Refugees and cultural differences, it is difficult to integrate, values
tereotypes that are paternalistic and “light” formulated will gain more support than open
stereotypes
Muslims need particular support in order to interiorise that men and women in Germany have
the same rights
Religious stereotypes: Stereotypes about Islam and Muslim people
Islam and muslim people directly identified with violence, terror attacks. Muslim people are
oft portrayed as a danger for the whole community, in particular connected with terror attacks
with oppression of the women
Religion has an impact on the acceptance of men refugees while for christian refugees does
not play a big role
Stereotype through the use of the use of the language in the media
Mass of people coming ans presented as « natural desaster »
General speaking we noticed that the arrival of thousands people were more often described
using words referring to natural phenomena often connected to a catastrophe

7
The most frequently words used referring to the arrival of thousands refugees are « refugees
chaos », « asylchaos », « refugees tusnami » and they contribute to create the idea that the
state does not know how to deal with it like for natural desaster, something we can not
control which generated fear and stress
« Fake refugees »- Doubts about the reasons of the aslylum
In the public debate the question is often posed as to why asylum seekers look for protection
in Germany, they want to misused the social walfare system, they don t want to work, they
are leaving because of economical reasons and not political ones, they just want to come
here and get social benefits
Refugees and migrants and impact on the welfare system
Fear of an increase of the unemployment, unequal treatment local and new comers. Fear for
the economical situation, that could get worst with the arrival of the refugees
Personal perception and national perception within the public opinion
There is a clear difference concerning the feeling for refugees and the social situation of the
people, the personal percepion is that my life is not affected by this huge mass of people
coming but when we speak in terms of Germany then you notice a difference, and people
saying that the arrival of refugees will have an impact of the standard of German people and
they represent a danger for the security of the country
According to the FES Study, there is a clear connection between the political orientation of
the local people and their attitude towards refugees, transversal among rich and poor people
or well educated and people with less eudcation
Fazit media analysis
Media analysts say many journalists have been trying to learn from Cologne, where a full
picture of what happened that night has still not emerged. The media broadly have
recognized their failures to second-guess police or hesitate from questioning whether the
night’s tragedy had anything to do with the arrival of migrants.
In July, Germany was rattled by four violent attacks within one week, three of which were
committed by recently arrived refugees. While the far-right blamed Ms. Merkel's policies,
most media outlets tried to look at each case individually. Merkel called for the same restraint
after the Freiburg murder.
Terrorist attack in Dezember
German authorities detained a Pakistani refugee in connection with the Berlin attack without
any evidence. Criticism towards some media organizations for prematurely assuming that a
Muslim refugee could be involved in the attack.

8
At the same time, media organizations, that are challenging stereotypes, responded very
positively to the incident. For instance, ZEIT online published an article about Naveed B that
put emphasis on resisting right-wing populism and Islamophobia in Europa.
Afterwards, the term "refugee" was deliberately avoided in connection with the perpetrators
of the Berlin attack. For instance, some journalists present at a discussion on the
Brandenburg television on Tuesday were quite upset with Chancellor Angela Merkel for
saying that she hoped the assault was not committed by someone who came to seek refuge
in Germany. It was considered unnecessary to even tap into that theme. It was the first time I
saw journalists being so careful about the issues of racism and stereotypes.
a) Practices for overcoming stereotypes towards migrants
Do you know good practices that contribute to overcoming stereotypes
plowing migrants?
Can be educational practices, spontaneous experiences, examples coming
, …
Successful example to overcome stereotypes within the migrant community are offered by a
group of artists working in all Germany and performing in theatres, public spaces, and
carrying out youtube campaign.
They are also part of a educational programme run UFUQ against radicalisation of young
people(far- right groups as well as Salafist groups)
Main aims is to show that:
Migrants are able to make fun of themselves
There are no tabou
Most common stereotypes have no fundament
J A ş
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5jb6VLzRJ4&t=226s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rayxjOD1Dos
Female Berlin actress, originally from Turkey, she has developed a character which mirrors
all the stereotypes the far right tries to reproduce in the public opinion: migrants are people
that speak very loud, proll, taking benefit of the social security system and not able to speak
a proper German after being living for ages in Germany or been born in the country
Die Datteltäter
http://datteltäter.de
t’s a Berlin group of young people including local German and migrants of the second and
first generation, women and men, aged 25-30, Muslim and not Muslim that wants to create a
“German Muslim Satire-Kalifat” on you tube.
The idea is to work on clichees on Muslim people, a kind of learning »shihad » aimed to face
the salafist presence on youtube
The one is with English subtitles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmiNBqTAAmg

9
Rebelcomedy
www.rebelcomedy.com
5 artists make fun of stereotypes, racist slogans, they are all born or have been living in
German for years
They address during the show those topics which are coming out in the discussion about
tolerance and migrants and refugees
c)Existing integration policies
Do Exist in your country policies for political integration? What do they
consist? How do these policies seek to contribute to overcoming stereotypes
towards migrants?
Policy and legal framework
Easier access to work and to training
The right to enter the labour market depends on the migrant’s actual legal status (refugee,
subsidiary protection status, asylum seeker, tolerated refugee). For many years, asylum
seekers and tolerated refugees were banned from employment. This political strategy of
excluding asylum seekers from the labour market has gradually been abandoned in the past
few years. Since 2014, the employment ban on asylum seekers has been reduced to three
months after having formally applied for asylum or having been registered after border
crossing. Once this period of time is up, asylum seekers are entitled to engage in gainful
employment on condition that there are no nationals or EU citizens who can do the job
instead – the so-called priority review. Persons who have been granted either refugee or
subsidiary protection status obtain a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) and are entitled
to gainful employment without any restrictions.
On 3 February 2016 the federal government announced that asylum seekers who start an
apprenticeship will obtain a guaranteed residence permit limited to the duration of the
apprenticeship plus two additional years for gaining job experience. This also means more
reliable planning for the company offering the apprenticeship compared to the situation
before. Though a number of restrictive regulations concerning labour market access have
been scaled back recently, in practice asylum seekers and tolerated refugees still encounter
many bureaucratic obstacles. Local foreigners’ registration departments often work very
slowly when granting an employment permit.
In the German federal system, labour market policies exist at the federal, state
(Bundesl nder) and local levels. Employment policy in general does not differentiate
between nationals and foreigners with legal access to the labour market. The same
instruments are provided for both. However, migrants have a much weaker position in the
labour market.
The federal government and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in particular
currently focus on opening access to general and vocational language courses, on the
recognition of formal qualifications acquired abroad, while including this target group in all
regular measures of labour market policy. Therefore, all political and economic programmes
that are relevant for labour market integration are mainstreamed with regard to the needs of

10
these groups. The instruments that are most important for the labour market integration of
refugees are the so- called “integration courses”. These comprise 600 hoursnof language
tuition and 60 hours instruction on German culture and politics. There are, in addition, the so-
called vocational language courses focusing on German in an employment context (ESF-
BAMF-Kurse). Finally, the government is fostering the identification and recognition of job
qualifications which asylum seekers and refugees have acquired in their home countries
The key institution for an active labour market policy in Germany is the ederal Employment
gency (Bundesagentur f r rbeit; BA) with its ten regional directorates
(Regionaldirektionen), 156 local employment agencies (Arbeitsagenturen) and 303 job
centres (Jobcenter).
Asylum seekers are entitled to job counselling from the employment agencies as soon as
they have applied for asylum. Besides the strategy of opening up existing measures to a
number of specific national groups of asylum seekers, the Federal Employment Agency has
developed some projects which explicitly focus on asylum seekers. In 2014–2015, the “Early
ntervention” pilot project was implemented in nine German cities. n this project, asylum
seekers were coached by the respective employment agency. They received special
placement assistance, language courses, practical job training and an assessment of their
skills and qualifications. Through this project, about 10% of the participants (1,400 persons
altogether) could be transferred into an apprenticeship or regular employment. An additional
consequence of the project was the fact that the employment agencies’ staff were trained to
work more successfully with the target group of asylum seekers: in so doing they acquired
new intercultural competencies nother programme by the ederal Employment gency for
refugee migrants is “ erspectives for efugees” ( erspektiven f r l chtlinge; PerF), which
is also designed to facilitate early labour market access for asylum seekers. Within twelve
weeks, participants are involved in practical skills assessment, training in job application and
in job intermediation.
By the end of 2015, most of the 16 German federal states (Bundesl nder) had launched their
own programmes
and measures to support the labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees; or at
least these were in preparation. There are different types of programmes and measures:
• Language courses
•Measures for an early skills and needs assessment
•Job coaching for asylum seekers
• Mediation of young asylum seekers into apprenticeship • Establishment of task forces in the
government to steer the labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees
• Legal information and support of employers who are willing to employ asylum seekers and
refugees
• Comprehensive programmes for the labour market integration of asylum seekers and
refugees
• Establishment of service points for asylum seekers and refugees
At the communal level, measures for employment promotion are usually initiated when
persons have already been granted asylum. This is due to the fact that labour market policy
at the local level is essentially the task of the communal Jobcenter. By the end of 2015, a
number of cities and administrative districts had already started to establish one-stop
facilities for the job-coaching of asylum seekers and refugees.
there are still some substantial challenges on the way for the successful labour market
integration of hundreds of thousands of refugees. To mention some of the most urgent
challenges:

11
Formal vocational formation is still an important precondition of entry into the German labour
market. However, the high degree of formality, which also assumes a very good proficiency
in German, seems far from appropriate. The challenge is to connect practical work with
vocational qualifications.
The prevalent strategy of “mainstreaming” refugee migrants into the general support
schemes for the job- seeking proportion of the population means that asylum seekers need
information and orientation in the German vocational system.
Employers willing to employ refugees still face legal obstacles and bureaucratic delays that
prevent them from educating or employing asylum seekers, tolerated refugees and even
recognised refugees.
Women, unqualified persons and handicapped refugees should not be forgotten in labour
market integration support measures. They will need specialised support schemes to get a
chance to enter the labour market.
For many immigrants, self-employment is an important option in becoming independent from
state subsidies and in improving their social status. Up to now, the self- employment of
refugees has hardly been considered.
In conclusion, knowledge of the long-term labour market integration of refugees is currently
scarce. s soon as persons are granted asylum, they “disappear” in official labour market
statistics, which only differentiate between nationals and foreigners. Concerning asylum
seekers, there is still very little experience about good practices
of labour market integration. There are some innovative measures which are promising for
the future.
According to our interview partners, the modular programme er (“ erspectives for
efugees”), implemented by the ederal Employment gency, may be a good starting point
for new practices in skills assessment. Furthermore, individual job coaching such as was
started in some German states (see above) as well as the establishment of regional and
local job service points for asylum seekers and refugees (see above) are new concepts in
labour market support which seem to be well matched to the needs of this target group
https://www.bertelsmann-
stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/user_upload/Studie_NW_From_Refugees_to_Workers_Vol1.pdf
https://mediendienst-integration.de/desintegration/rassismus.html
http://www.fes-gegen-
rechtsextremismus.de/pdf_16/Gespaltene%20Mitte_Feindselige%20Zustände.pdf#page=43
https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/buch_mitte_studie_uni_leipzig_2016.pdf#page=35
https://www.boell.de/de/2015/12/12/fluechtlingspolitik-den-bundeslaendern-wie-schaffen-die
das
http://www.unhcr.org/56bb369c9.pdf
Hemmelmann & Wegner (2016) identifizieren in ihrer Analyse der medialen Berichterstattung
ur l chtlingskris
Elisabeth Addicks, Alina Beck,Anja Reith, Alina Sauer,Christian Schaft, Christiane Scharf
tereotype Berichterstattung ber ethnische Gruppen

La be project how to overcome stereotypes - background research germany

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (16)

Similar to La be project how to overcome stereotypes - background research germany

Similar to La be project how to overcome stereotypes - background research germany (20)

More from LampedusaBerlinProject

More from LampedusaBerlinProject (14)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

La be project how to overcome stereotypes - background research germany