“We need to create more regular immigration channels.”

Interview with Professor Petra Bendel, Chair of the Research Council of German Foundations for Integration and Migration (SVR)

Coverbild: BWP 1/2022
Author
Issue/Year (Volume) 1/2022 (51)
Page(s) 8-10
Language(s)
    englisch

Germany is reliant on immigration in order to cover its qualified skilled worker requirements. Statutory amendments and provisions have been introduced over the past few years with a view to facilitating the influx of qualified skilled workers. The most recent of these measures was the Skilled Immigration Act, which entered into force in 2020. But are they achieving the desired effect?The question of how immigration to Germany can be managed extends beyond a purely quantitative matching of skilled worker supply and demand. Further issues are at play. How can we structure global economic migration in a fair and equitable way? How can the competencies and qualifications of migrants be adequately evaluated, and how can the potential they offer be exploited? And how can they be effectively integrated into a country of immigration such as Germany?