Refugee work

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Under (volunteer) work with refugees is meant all the operations that are carried out free of charge for the interests or for the benefit of refugees. This is closely related to the refugee crisis of 2015: At that time, a large number of refugees poured into Germany, which led to a great willingness to help with refugee work. Nevertheless, the conceptual history goes back to the immediate post-war period. In connection with the commitment of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, there is repeated talk of international refugee work. In addition, in connection with the care of refugees and displaced persons after 1945, there is talk of the corresponding, largely voluntary work, even if the term refugee work is not explicitly described but rather as welfare.

Previously, refugee aid was mainly mentioned - as with the United Nations refugee agency - but the studies that deal with voluntary work show refugee work as a central term that supplements refugee aid and social work with the voluntary aspect of work stressed.

Who does volunteer work in refugee work?

In the studies on voluntary refugee work, it is noticeable that despite numerous committed men , volunteers are predominantly female, well educated and economically in a relatively secure position; they mostly live in large cities and are only partly - about half - religious, mostly Christian; there are also numerous people with a migration background; Younger people and students are over-represented. Their main concern is to act as sponsors or mentors, to provide accommodation and mobility, to help with visits to authorities, to offer language courses, childcare and city tours, to act as language guides or to provide clothing. The coordination of the various offers of help is also very important. The work is often self-organized, e.g. B. in clubs and often motivated by existing intercultural contacts or media reports; the degree of networking is relatively high. In some cases, institutions such as adult education centers offer training courses to support volunteer work with refugees.

Reasons for volunteering

If one follows the results of the studies from 2015 and 2016, then many respondents see their actions as a political sign with regard to the social climate towards refugees, especially with regard to first aid and integration. This central motivation of many helpers to make a difference in society requires, for the respondents, a functioning civil society cooperation between volunteers, authorities and local actors. A key role is played by the formation of a citizens' movement which, in view of personal contacts, distances itself from political categorizations and aims at a new civil society and a welcoming culture. This also includes the central motivation of many helpers to make a difference in society.

The intensive encounter with migration stories in the context of refugee work - as the studies show - brings the European aspect into focus, as the different attitudes experienced by the refugees towards them in the individual escape stations open up questions about the backgrounds and narratives. Through the biographical approach in the context of refugee work, the different experiences of flight, displacement, integration - individual, group-related, ethnic, religious, personal or family experience - can be contextualized in the sense of a 'traveling memory' or 'transnational memory'. As a special form of memory learning , the mutual - presumably more indirectly reflective - exchange of experiences becomes clear: refugee work - especially for older volunteers - does not just begin with the Syria conflict, but also affects the migration and asylum discourse since the 1970s and the post-war situation of foreign speakers "Displaced Persons" in Germany.

Therefore, the studies repeatedly refer to the close connection between migration and memory research.

Opportunities and challenges of voluntary refugee work

In the studies on the topic it becomes clear that nationally shaped socialization and enculturation of native speakers, but also migrants, represent a challenge on the way to a multicultural or transcultural togetherness, especially with regard to migrant children. (Voluntary) refugee work, as well as its full-time counterpart by teachers and social workers, thus balances between cultural identity and assimilation if it is aimed at integration. Stereotypes influence this process on both sides, especially in the field of education. This affects the respective design of a welcoming culture. One approach is the biographical approach in the context of refugee work, where the different experiences of flight, displacement, integration - individual, group-related, ethnic and religious - are contextualized and communicated as personal or family experiences.

In November 2017, the London Institute of Race Relations criticized the fact that in EU countries laws against people smuggling were increasingly being used against charitable organizations and people who host or transport refugees free of charge and for charitable reasons.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Serhat Karakayali, J. Olaf Kleist: EFA Study 1: Structures and Motives of Voluntary Refugee Work in Germany, 2nd Research Report: Results of an exploratory survey from November / December 2015, Berlin: Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM) , Humboldt University of Berlin. 14 (hereinafter: Efa studies); see. Geert Franzenburg, From supervision to accompaniment, Norderstedt 2017; John Wilson: 'Volunteering', Annual Review of Sociology, 26 (2000), 215-16
  2. ^ Luise Drüke: Refugee policy on a supra-national level. The UN refugee agency, the UN and the EC. In: Heinelt H. (eds) Immigration Policy in Europe. Social Policy and State Activity Series, vol. 4. Wiesbaden, 1994, 176-94
  3. ^ Federal Ministry for Displaced Persons (ed.), Counselor for "Homeless Foreigners", Bonn 1952; Geert Franzenburg, homeless and yet at home, Hagen 2015; Eberhard Jahn: The DP problem. A study on foreign refugees in Germany, ed. from the Institute for Occupation Issues, Tübingen: 1950; Herbert Krimm: Assistance, the activities of the aid organization of the Evangelical Churches in Germany for displaced persons and refugees after 1945, Stuttgart 1974
  4. ^ Initiative of university lecturers on social work in shared accommodation: Position paper: Social work with refugees in shared accommodation. Professional standards and socio-political basis, Berlin 2016
  5. ↑ Tips and videos for volunteer language guides. Klett Verlag, accessed on February 16, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Babellos - Voluntary language guides support refugees. Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur e. V., accessed on February 16, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Ulrike Hamann, Serhat Karakayalı, Mira Wallis, Leif Jannis Höfler: Coordination models and challenges of voluntary refugee aid in the municipalities (BIM), Gütersloh 2016. (hereinafter Hamann et al., 2016)
  8. ↑ Serhat Karakayali, J. Olaf Kleist: EFA Study 1 and 2: Structures and Motives of Voluntary Refugee Work in Germany, 2nd Research Report: Results of an exploratory survey from November / December 2015, Berlin: Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research ( BIM), Humboldt University Berlin 2016.34 (hereinafter: Efa studies); The commitment for and with refugees, publisher: Federal Working Group of Volunteer Agencies (bagfa) eV 2015 (hereinafter Bagfa 2015)
  9. ↑ Integration. In: vhs-sprachenschule.de. Accessed February 16, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Rudolf Speth and Elke Becker: Civil Society Actors and the Care of Refugees in German Municipalities, Opusculum No. 92, April 2016 (hereinafter: Speth / Becker)
  11. ↑ EFA studies 2015 and 2016
  12. ↑ Petra Angela Ahrens: Skepticism or Confidence? Expectations of the population regarding the reception of refugees in Germany, Hannover 2015
  13. ↑ Florian Fritz: 'From all my heart - voluntary work with refugees in Germany', in: Waiting room Germany: A manual for social work with refugees, ed. By Florian Fritz, Stuttgart 2004), 225–32
  14. ↑ Ulrike Hamann, Serhat Karakayalı, Mira Wallis, Leif Jannis Höfler: Coordination models and challenges of voluntary refugee aid in the municipalities (BIM), Gütersloh 2016 (hereinafter Hamann et al., 2016); Werner Schiffauer, Anne Eilert, Marlene Rudloff (eds.): How we can do it - a civil society on the move, Bielefeld 2017 (hereinafter: Schiffauer et al., 2017.
  15. ↑ EFA studies 2015 and 2016
  16. ^ Imke Sturm-Martin: Europes absent history, Eurozine
  17. ↑ Astrid Erll: “Traveling Memory”, Parallax, 17 (4), 2011, 4-18.
  18. ↑ Chiara de Cesari and Ann Rigney (eds.): Transnational memory, Berlin, 2014
  19. ↑ Klaus J. Bade, Michael Bommes: Migration and political culture in the "non-immigration country", in: Klaus J. Bade / Rainer Münz (ed.): Migration Report 2000. Facts - Analyzes - Perspectives, Frankfurt am Main / New York 2000 , 109-140
  20. ↑ Geert Franzenburg, TRIMDA Forum 1/2007 and 2/2008
  21. ↑ Irial Glynn and J. Olaf Kleist: The Memory and Migration Nexus: An Overview January 2012
  22. ↑ Achim Schrader, Bruno W. Nikles, Hartmut M. Griese: The Second Generation. Socialization and acculturation of foreign children in the Federal Republic, Kronberg 1976
  23. ↑ Norbert Elias, James Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Frankfurt a. M. 1993 (1st edition 1965); Monika Bethscheider / Klaus Troltsch: Aspects of the “established outsider figuration” in professional training REPORT (30) 3/2007, 51–60
  24. ↑ F. Heckmann: Welcome culture - what is it, and how can it be created and developed? (efms), Bamberg 2012
  25. ↑ Chiara de Cesari and Ann Rigney (eds.): Transnational memory, Berlin, 2014; Astrid Erll: Traveling Memory, Parallax, 17 (4), 2011, 4-18.
  26. ↑ Annika Joeres : Accused of charity. In: time online. November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017 .
  27. ^ EU member states, in criminalizing humanitarians, are feeding Europe's far right. In: press release. Institute of Race Relations (IRR), November 11, 2017, accessed November 15, 2017 .

literature

  • Jutta Aumüller, Priska Daphi and Celine Biesenkamp: The acceptance of refugees in the federal states and municipalities Official practice and civic engagement in 2015
  • E. Boesen and F. Lentz: Migration and Memory: Concepts and Methods of Research, Münster, 2010.
  • Robert Bosch Stiftung (ed.): Recognizing opportunities - creating prospects - enabling integration, Stuttgart 2016.
  • Stephan Dünnwald: The educational reach for the foreign: On the attitude of local initiatives towards refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany. Frankfurt am Main 2006
  • Peter Gatrell: The making of the modern refugee, Oxford 2013.
  • VB Georgi and R. Ohliger: “History and Diversity: Crossover Instead of National Narratives?”, In Dies. (Ed.)., Crossover story. Historical awareness of young people in the immigration society, Hamburg. 7-25.
  • I.Glynn and J. Olaf Kleist: History, Memory and Migration: perceptions of the past and the politics of incorporation, Basingstoke, 68–96.
  • J. Olaf Kleist, “Limits of Memory: Methods of Reference to the Past and their Implications for Migration Policy”, in Boesen E. and Lentz F., ed., Migration and Memory: Concepts and Methods of Research, Münster, 2010, 223–255.
  • Peter Kühne and Harald Rüßler: The living conditions of refugees in Germany (Frankfurt am Main / New York 2000).

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