SPD on migration and integration

The SPD stands by the individual right to asylum and wants to implement the EU asylum system (CEAS) in line with human rights. Berlin should be able to admit especially vulnerable people through its own state admission programs. People without a claim to protection are also to get paths to integration; for returns, the party relies on voluntary departure.

The SPD wants to keep the right to asylum. Berlin should be allowed to take in people at special risk. People without a right to protection should also get a chance to stay. People who must leave should get help to return by choice. Serious offenders with no right to stay should be deported first.

The SPD wants to press the federal government to allow state admission programs, including for relatives of Berlin residents. For rejected asylum seekers and people whose residence permits are expiring, it wants to use the Spurwechsel (switch from the asylum track to a work-based status) and calls for a new Chancenaufenthaltsrecht (opportunity residence permit). The hardship commission continues its work, and a transparent recognition procedure for stateless people is to be created. People with no prospect of staying would receive return assistance early. Deportations would prioritize serious offenders without a right to stay and people classified as security threats.

Citing the skilled-labor shortage and an aging society, the SPD wants to keep enabling labor migration. Foreign qualifications are to be recognized more simply and quickly. Refugees should be able to support themselves soon after arriving.

Berlin lacks skilled workers. So the SPD wants to bring in workers from abroad. Degrees from other countries should count faster. Refugees should be allowed to work sooner.

International skilled workers would be actively recruited, especially for nursing and care. Moving to Berlin would become easier for the self-employed, and people who invest substantially and found a company would get a fast-track founder's visa. The SPD wants to reduce work bans for refugees and push at the federal level for further easing. Skilled workers should be able to bring their families quickly, provided the family's livelihood is secured.

The SPD wants to naturalize more Berlin residents with a migration background so they can take part in democratic decisions. The naturalization center is to continue, and a campaign is to address everyone who is eligible to apply.

Many people in Berlin have no German passport. Many of them could apply for one. The SPD wants to reach these people. More people should become German citizens and be able to vote.

According to the platform, about 40 percent of Berlin's population has a migration background, and roughly half of them are naturalized. The naturalization center is to work in an intercultural and citizen-friendly way. Application procedures and counseling are to be digitized as far as possible.

The SPD wants to stop housing refugees in emergency shelters and move to decentralized housing. All districts are to contribute a fair share. The party rejects secondary migration centers and curfews for refugees.

Refugees should no longer live in large emergency shelters. They should live in homes all over the city. Every district should help. The SPD does not want curfews for refugees.

In the platform's view, integration cannot succeed in emergency shelters holding thousands of people. After the emergency shelters, shared accommodation centers are also to be phased out and housing for refugees expanded. The per-refugee community allowance paid to districts is to be increased so that social infrastructure around accommodation grows as well.

The SPD wants to broaden services for immigrants and refugees. The Welcome Center is to become the central multilingual point of contact, and language mediation is to be available at all public offices. German courses and the integration guides program are to be strengthened.

The SPD wants to make arriving easier for people from abroad. There will be one central place for help in many languages. Public offices will offer translation. There will be more German courses.

The Welcome Center is to combine digital and district-level services. The integration guides program would be professionalized, extended to more language groups, and funded permanently. Alongside German courses, digital and job-related language offerings are to grow. The public service is to open up more to people with a migration background through mentoring, recognition, and diversity programs. Migrant organizations, a migration museum, and a democracy hub for refugee activists are to be supported, and a monitoring system with twice-yearly indicators is to track participation.

The SPD rejects a Bezahlkarte (payment card) for refugees because, in its view, it severely limits participation in public life. Instead, it wants to push at the federal level for the conditions needed for a Berlin city ID. The ID is meant to give undocumented people access to basic services.

The SPD does not want a payment card for refugees. It says the card shuts people out of city life. The SPD wants a city ID for Berlin instead. With it, people without papers could also see a doctor or go to school.

The Bezahlkarte is a prepaid card through which asylum seekers receive benefits instead of cash. The planned city ID is meant to open access to health care, housing, work, and education for people without residence papers. The SPD wants to secure the legal preconditions for it at the federal level.