SPD on migration and integration

The SPD wants people without a German passport to be able to vote in local and state elections after three years of residence. It also plans a statewide representative body for migrants, local integration councils, and a participation law. The party argues that integration only works through participation.

The SPD wants people without a German passport to vote. This should apply after three years in Germany. It covers local elections and state elections. There should also be a body that speaks for immigrants in Bavaria. The SPD says integration only works if everyone can take part.

Voting rights would apply from the third year of residence for local and state parliament elections; the SPD also wants to use the Bundesrat (the chamber of the states) to push for nationwide voting rights for immigrants. A state-level migrant representative body would have to be consulted on all issues affecting migrants. Integration councils are to be set up in every municipality and county, with a participation law providing the framework. Responsibility for integration would move from the interior ministry back to the social affairs ministry, and the Bavarian Integration Act would be thoroughly reformed. The party supports dual citizenship.

The SPD wants immigrants to get work permits faster and have their qualifications recognized more easily. New arrivals would be entitled to schooling, vocational training or courses, along with childcare. According to the platform, children's success in school should not depend on their parents' background.

Immigrants should be allowed to work sooner. Their foreign degrees should be accepted more easily. People new to Bavaria should have a right to school, training or a language course. This includes care for their children. There should be more teachers with a migration background.

A clear administrative directive would end the current regional differences in handling work permits and recognition; recognition is meant to bring a claim to working conditions in line with collective agreements. New arrivals would be entitled to school attendance, vocational training or courses such as language classes, plus accompanying childcare. Foreign teaching qualifications would be recognized under uniform, transparent rules, and there would be more teachers and childcare workers with a migration background. Access to BAföG (student aid) would be improved for immigrants. Migration and integration would become a mandatory, exam-relevant subject in teacher training.

The SPD wants no one deported from Bavaria to war and crisis zones, including people with criminal convictions. Deportations without compelling criminal-law grounds would end, especially for schoolchildren and people in training or work. Immigration offices would become “welcome offices,” and a state admission program would allow safe entry.

The SPD does not want to deport anyone to war zones. This also applies to people who committed crimes. Schoolchildren and people in training or work should be allowed to stay. Immigration offices should welcome newcomers. Bavaria should get its own program to take in refugees safely.

The platform rules out deportations to war and crisis zones entirely. It also wants to end deportations that the SPD calls arbitrary and at times brutal where no compelling criminal-law grounds exist. The Bavarian State Office for Asylum and Returns would be turned into a state office for refugee assistance. In the party's view, immigration offices should no longer be guided by keeping people out but should welcome war refugees and other immigrants alike. A state admission program would give refugees in need of protection a safe way to enter.

The SPD wants to abolish the Ankerzentren (large centralized asylum facilities), arguing that they block integration and make refugees ill. It favors decentralized housing and German classes from day one instead. All refugees would be treated the same way as those from Ukraine.

The SPD wants to close the Anker centers. These are large shared shelters for asylum seekers. Refugees should live spread across many places. They should be able to learn German right away. All refugees should be treated like people from Ukraine.

According to the platform, the Anker centers put a strain on people who are often already traumatized by their flight. German classes would be offered from the start, even when long-term residence is not yet secured. Psychological care for refugees, for example by the organization “refugio,” would be funded and expanded. The SPD explicitly says integration does not mean assimilation. In the party's view, the reception of Ukrainians shows what is possible.

The SPD wants to push for a restructuring of the EU border agency Frontex. Besides border protection, the agency should work with civilian initiatives in sea rescue to protect people who are fleeing. Bavarian security forces should not take part in operations where refugees are unlawfully pushed back.

Frontex is the EU's border agency. The SPD wants to change Frontex. Frontex should also protect people who are fleeing and help with rescue at sea. Police from Bavaria should not take part when refugees are illegally pushed back at the border.

The party wants Frontex to support sea rescue in coordination with civilian initiatives. The rejection applies to operations at the EU's external borders in which illegal pushbacks take place. The SPD says it will advocate for this restructuring.