The German government has announced plans to boost the number of migrants arriving in the country in the hopes of bolstering its ageing workforce.
Germany’s Federal Minister of Labour, Hubertus Heil, announced on Wednesday that his government was aiming to let even more migrants into the country in the hopes of outnumbering its ageing population.
The EU member state has already seen record levels of immigration, with its total migrant population growing by 4.4 million people since 2014 on the back of the massive influx of foreigners from the likes of Syria and Afghanistan.
However, while leftist politicians in the country often praise the influx as being positive for the country’s economy, statistics published on Tuesday indicate that many of these migrants remain unemployed to this day.
According to a report by Die Welt, Heil does not seem to be dissuaded by this fact, arguing that even more migrants are needed in order to boost the currently floundering German economy.
“Our goal is the most modern immigration law in Europe, because we compete with many countries for clever minds and helping hands,” he said, arguing that getting “the right people” would ensure “prosperity” in the country.
Such increased immigration is to be achieved through a points-based system that will allow foreigners who already have a job reserved for them, have decent enough skills that they would be likely to get a job, or have other qualities that the German authorities deem attractive, to more easily gain access to the country.
Germany is no stranger to mass immigration, with the country reportedly seeing its migrant population spike by 4.4 million between the end of 2014 and June 2022, with the numbers likely to increase even further as a result of the country’s lax immigration rules and the Ukraine war.
While a lot of this growth is the result of the country’s Merkel-era migrant crisis, immigration has once again spiked in recent months, with the net influx of foreigners reaching an all-time high for Germany post-unification in the first six months of this year.
However, while various politicians and social justice activists have praised the massive surge in Germany’s foreign population as being a good thing, especially for the country’s economy, figures put out by the country’s statistics agency Destatis appear to throw doubts on such a claim.
For example, while advocates of immigration say that it will allow businesses in the country to fill job vacancies as the country’s native population gets older, figures indicate that wide swathes of migrants from outside of Europe remain unemployed in the country.
For example, the employment rate for Afghans in Germany sits at 45 per cent, compared with just under 95 per cent for the country’s overall population.
Things look even worse when it comes to Syrian nationals, with the population reported as only having an employment rate of 35 per cent.
While the new immigration plan does appear to prioritise allowing in migrants who have already locked in employment in Germany, those wishing to avail of the scheme will not actually be required to find a job before arriving, a factor which may only add to the number of unemployed migrants in the country.