The German employment agency's research institute, IAB, says that Afghans who have arrived in the wake of the recent crisis have higher levels of education and will be in a better position to acquire German and foreign language skills than those who arrived in Germany after 2015.

In a report on the likely migration impact on Germany of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the IAB said this means that their integration into the German labor market will be faster, and will cost the German state less.

Germany airlifted at least 5,300 people, including German and Afghan citizens working with international forces, out of Kabul in August. As of October 18, the German foreign ministry said it had since taken in more than 1,000 more, bringing the total number of Afghan arrivals to over 5,440. These include people whom the German government has identified as especially at risk from the Taliban regime. 

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"Preference is now being given to people who worked with or supported allied troops and aid organizations or who have held prominent positions in public, political, scientific, educational, human rights organizations and similar fields," said the IAB's Herbert Brücker.

"These groups have a much higher level of education, foreign language skills, and higher incomes than the average Afghan population."

Better conditions

Brücker added that the newly-arrived Afghans are entitled to better conditions in terms of legal status and access to integration programs. This is because of structural improvements to integration since large-scale immigration that took place in 2015. "At the same time there are fewer asylum seekers competing for resources," he explained.

There is currently a high demand for skilled workers in the German labor market, especially in the IT and healthcare sectors. Overall net immigration to Germany has also fallen for the past five consecutive years, according to the German national office of statistics.

The employment rate of Afghan nationals in Germany is already comparatively high. As of April 30 this year, it was 40% – three percentage points higher than the average employment rate among asylum seekers from the eight main countries of origin, which include Afghanistan and Syria. This is in spite of the fact that many who arrived in the past had low levels of education and were caught up in lengthy asylum procedures without access to integration courses.

According to official figures, at the end of 2020, 272,000 Afghans were living in Germany, of whom 216,000 were asylum seekers and refugees.

With dpa

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