Playing with our fears – and how we have to push back

More trust, listening and togetherness

Without wanting to take a naïve view on the challenges of migration and integration, we must distance ourselves from populist discourse about a perceived sense of fear and instead find a narrative that is based on more trust and confidence. Some of the right-wing extremists within the AfD are eager to create a homogenous, white Germany – destroying coexistence in our diverse society in the process.

The political arena could counter this by once again giving those who are really concerned a say and enabling them to participate in the debate. On the one hand, these are refugees who come to Germany burdened with painful experiences and trauma and yet try to make the best out of their situation. On the other hand, those people who continue to be seen as migrants despite them, their parents, or grandparents having been part of German society for decades.

And yet, these people are reduced to prejudices and face racism on a daily basis because of the colour of their skin or traits that supposedly reveal where they are from. That said, studies repeatedly show that prejudices can be overcome if migrants are more visible, if people come into contact with one another more often.
 

Migrants do not “pose a risk” – more often than not, they are “at risk”

Where migration meets right-wing extremism, conflict in society can arise, as illustrated in a study conducted in Bautzen, a town in the German state of Saxony. In fact, the refugees who took part in this study, who constitute around two percent of the population, reported experiencing harassment and threats in their day-to-day lives, revealing just how widespread right-wing extremist attitudes are. In this case, it is not migrants that “pose a risk” but rather they are the ones who are “at risk”.

Thus, for migrants themselves, equating security policy with migration policy can appear like a cynical approach given that their security is not considered. The Violence Assistance Act, a law that Delal Atmaca from the umbrella association of migrant women organisations is a strong advocate of, could help combat this issue.

“Feminist organisations have been calling for better protection from violence for generations. My wish would be that we actually take security policy seriously rather than just instrumentalising it for the purpose of migration policy”, she stresses. This act – an important piece of legislation pledged by the government in its coalition agreement with a view to ensuring greater protection for all those affected by violence or the threat of violence – must finally be enforced.
 

More emphasis on participation and social protection

This is where politics comes in. We are currently seeing left-leaning parties in Germany floundering in the regional elections despite them engaging in a discourse that is increasingly oriented towards “law and order”. This course will not benefit the SPD and indeed is likely to do the party more harm than good, and it is unlikely to weaken the right-wing parties either. This is evident in Denmark where, according to a FES study, the social democratic party’s approach of adopting right-leaning positions failed to bring about any success in the fight against the right and only served to create new problems.

The members of the Danish electorate who voted for the social democrats did so primarily because of their progressive economic policy and not their restrictive migration policy. The deterrent measures have not resulted in a decline in migration. At times, there were even more applications from people seeking asylum. For them, the benefit cuts have disastrous consequences.

A similar situation could come about in Germany. During the debate on the new security package, the human rights organisation Pro Asyl, among others, warned that thousands of asylum-seekers could end up on the streets if their claims were rejected based on the Dublin regulations. This would be a violation of the Basic Law – in other words, yet another line would be crossed.

But within the SPD there are also other voices calling for more participation and more social protection. This is something that the Chair of the SPD’s Commission for Fundamental Values, Gesine Schwan, highlighted at the FES conference: “Our approach to work should be based on cooperation and partnership.” One of the proposals for solving social conflicts put forward in a recent paper on migration published by the Commission was to provide more affordable housing and to foster participation.