Migrants learn German and set up companies
“We look at the individual and their potential, not where they come from,” says Managing Director Elena Herrmann from ePlan consult GmbH about her “customers”. Up to 60 women and men from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia are busy learning German, being prepared for the job market and receiving practical help with setting up a business.
At the launch of the new integration project “Business Start-up-Migration-Integration”, Magdeburg MP Tino Sorge (CDU) visited the project to find out about the successes and hurdles of the integration work and stated: “If people have to flee their homeland from war or persecution and seek protection here, then they should spend their time here in a meaningful way, preferably with a good apprenticeship. In conversation, the course participants told me that they would like to become carpenters, welders or electricians. When the vast majority of them return, they can help to rebuild their country and they will always have a positive relationship with Germany.”
But it is not only asylum seekers who are looked after here. Since 2014, priority has also been given to people who have been living in Magdeburg for years in some cases. Thanks to targeted support, more than 60 graduates of the city’s “Integra-Plus” project are now able to work in shortage occupations or run their own businesses. In the job centers, there is often not enough time for tailored advice and training. The courses on offer, on the other hand, specifically promote existing skills, compensate for weaknesses and provide help with setting up a business or business succession. This has led to the creation or continuation of a successful ballet school, a self-employed florist, a delicatessen and various craft businesses.
“I am delighted by the courage of the migrants living here to be independent. With a little help, they are building up their own livelihoods for their families with diligence and dedication and are now also employing staff. Among the participants, I also met a trained ophthalmologist, who we urgently need here. On the one hand, we need to differentiate between asylum seekers and immigrants and, on the other, we need to ensure that we do not overburden our society’s ability to integrate. Thanks to clear rules for everyone and targeted support, we can help those who really do enjoy asylum protection. At the same time, our region can benefit from moderate and controlled immigration. I am therefore in favor of an immigration law that precisely defines who is allowed to come to us and who is not,” concluded Tino Sorge.
To the livestream: http://www.mdf1.de/mediathek/2370/10_Oktober.html
Length: 3:00 minutes