by Allanah Leahy – EM TV Online
The German capital of Berlin has taken an innovative stance on its influx of migrants.
Complimenting Germany’s move to have migrants distributed evenly across the European Union’s 28 countries, a training initiative called Arrivo Berlin is set to improve the potential of incoming migrants.
The training initiative was set up between local authorities and Berlin’s Chamber of Skilled Crafts, and is aimed at professionally integrating migrants, with jobs, training and language programs, to bring them up to speed with Germany’s standards.
Twenty-five-year-old Tahir Osman Mohammad is a migrant, originally from Chad, making enthusiastic use of the opportunity, and hoping for future success. His family is still in Libya after he fled across the Mediterranean in 2012, eventually seeking asylum in Germany.
“I heard that skilled trades are very difficult and then I did it for two weeks and thought ‘no problem’… It is not easy but I want to learn, to carry on. I hope I will have a job next year or the year after,” he said.
Project manager of the initiative, Anton Schuenemann, said Arrivo Berlin is a positive approach on the migrant crisis, saying the current shortage of skilled workers and trainees will only worsen in the future. Therefore, Schuenemann said the many migrants motivated to integrate and contribute to society would ultimately benefit all those involved.
He however pointed out that the initiative clashes with the Germany’s existing migrant policies.
“The biggest problem is that if you go into training or have a contract for work, then that does not stop them from being deported. This means that Germany is still prepared to deport a tax payer from this country, because they think that that person will be better off in their country of origin.
“And that is of course a big problem that the economy has, which is why they want secure conditions. Because it is totally logical: if a company trains someone, then they are investing in that person,” Schuenemann told Reuters.
