Supporting refugees

When large flows of refugees came to Germany in the summer of 2015, many members of the public set up local initiatives to take people in. Today, civil society efforts to help Ukrainian refugees can build on these foundations. A survey funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research shows how these efforts have developed.  

The survey shows that the 2015 “Summer of Migration” inspired many Germans to help refugees and prompted the creation of many new initiatives for migrants. Those involved in civil society initiatives also networked with one another and came into regular contact with local authorities, although this did lead to confrontations. The survey stresses that “What started out as engagement based on humanitarian and charitable motivations gave rise to forms of democratic participation to strengthen the interests of refugees.”Joint forums provided a way of bringing civil society and local authorities together to resolve many conflicts. Where meetings of this kind did not take place, support for refugees was weakened. In 2022, there was a lack of structures in these places to handle the reception of refugees from Ukraine in the best possible way.  

A new boost for engagement 

In recent years the pandemic made it more difficult to help refugees, as contact was limited between helpers and those seeking assistance. In addition, those offering help included many older members of the public, but they had to isolate during the pandemic as they were a particularly at-risk group. However, where structures were already in place in Germany prior to the pandemic, it was easy to continue these in order to support Ukrainians.  

According to the findings from the research, it can be said that there is a new boost for civil society engagement. It states that “From the spring of 2022, civil society once again stepped up as the key actor in supporting refugees, organising initiatives such as welcoming committees at railway stations, welcome cafes, German courses and kids’ afternoons.”The research also identifies new forms of engagement, such as a “mass phenomenon” of providing private accommodation for refugees. As part of this, over 150.000 people registered on the #UnterkunftUkraine online platform between March and September 2022. 

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