The non-profit Bertelsmann Foundation revealed in a recent study that 37 percent of refugee aid organizations could not access funding from public and private programs. The study included a survey of aid workers between February 2017 and April 2017 in the German federal states of Bavaria, Berlin, Lower Saxony and Thuringia. 34 interviews were conducted on location, and an additional 556 organizations were surveyed online.

The reasons cited in the report include bureaucratic obstacles (58 percent), not enough time (70 percent) and lack of information (48 percent). Bertelsmann demanded that the application procedures for federal, state, foundation and other funds be streamlined.   

Red tape, lack of information

Refugee aid organizations have played a valuable role in German society, between 2015 and 2016, almost 1 million refugees entered Germany.  "It was of decisive importance that involved citizens in these times of an overstraining of our state systems spontaneously jumped in and provided support," Alexander Koop, expert for civil society issues at Bertelsmann told dpa, calling for more Germans to pitch in money for the initiatives.

"But those who especially quickly help tend more to be punished by the current funding system because the initiatives must write up applications and set up associations before they can start to receive the funds," he continued.

The German Commissioner for Integration, Aydan Özoguz, has called for a "reorientation of the German funding scene" towards refugee aid programs, according to epd. She has advocated for funding opportunities for smaller or less-established aid initiatives and advocated that German communities have to establish practical and faster ways so that these initiatives receive financing.     

For more information on the various refugee organizations in Germany, read here:  https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/peace-security/relief-organizations.