An investigative study revealed that more than 80% of immigrants and their children in Germany feel connected to their new homeland, indicating that immigrants’ exposure to discrimination stands as an obstacle to strengthening a culture of belonging.
The study, conducted by the Council of Experts on Integration and Migration, showed that 46.2% of immigrants feel a sense of belonging “completely” and 38% “to some extent,” while the percentage among people who do not have an immigrant background reached 90%, according to the “Amal, Berlin!” website.
The study’s authors stated that immigrants’ relationships with their countries of origin have become relatively weaker, but more than half of them feel connected to their home country.
According to the study’s authors, the longer the period of residence in Germany, the greater the sense of belonging to the new homeland, and the weaker the ties with the country of origin.
The study stated that language skills and cross-cultural communication enhance belonging, while exposure to discrimination stands as an obstacle to this.
Germany has become the top destination for asylum seekers in the recent period, after its share reached half of the asylum applications of Syrians, Afghans, and Turks submitted to Europe last May, which arouses the anger of far-right movements.
The federal government announced last week that the number of politically motivated attacks, destruction of property, and assaults on refugee shelters in Germany had increased since the beginning of the year.
