SPD on migration and integration

The SPD sees Saxony-Anhalt as dependent on skilled workers from Europe and beyond and wants an open skilled-labor policy. For the party this includes a welcoming culture in workplaces, schools, volunteer groups and municipalities.

Saxony-Anhalt does not have enough skilled workers. So the SPD wants to bring in workers from other countries. These people should feel welcome in the state. They should be able to become part of society.

The program cites demographic change: more people are retiring than new workers are arriving. Besides immigration, the SPD names modern schools, strong vocational schools, free education and training as building blocks for securing skilled labor. It calls integration, inclusion and participation a factor in the state's attractiveness. Anyone who lives or works in the state should have the chance to belong to society. The SPD wants to treat immigration as an opportunity.

The SPD says Saxony-Anhalt depends on immigration because of its shortage of skilled workers and labor. Immigrants are to learn the language quickly, have their qualifications recognized and be allowed to work; the party rejects work bans.

Saxony-Anhalt does not have enough workers. The SPD says the state needs people from abroad. They should learn German quickly and be allowed to work. The SPD is against work bans. Foreign degrees should be recognized faster.

Migration is to be orderly and geared toward integration. Language courses are to be available early; where federal programs fall short, the state will add its own. Recognition of foreign qualifications is to be faster and give more weight to work experience. The steps from recruitment to starting a job are to be simplified, with guide and advice services and a job buddy program supporting workers and companies. The Welcome Center Sachsen-Anhalt is to become an agency for recruiting and integrating foreign skilled workers.

The SPD sees daycare centers and schools as key places for integration. Immigrant children are not to be taught separately and are to receive equivalent education from the start, including in initial reception centers.

Children from other countries should learn together with everyone else. The SPD does not want separate classes for them. Children in reception centers should also get good schooling. Refugees live there at first. Daycare centers and schools should give more help with learning German.

Daycare centers are to get enough staff and expert support to foster language and living together. Elementary school continues this support. Depending on the situation, the platform calls for more teachers with language skills, targeted language support and extra teaching hours.

The SPD wants immigrants who work, study, or are in vocational training to be able to stay. Voluntary return would be supported, and deportations would be only a last resort. At the same time, residence law would be enforced and procedures handled swiftly.

People who work, study, or do job training should be allowed to stay. The SPD wants to support voluntary return. Deportations should only be the last resort. Procedures should be fast and fair.

The platform stresses that the rule of law also enforces rules in residence law and applies equally to everyone. Procedures should be fast, legally sound, and transparent. In the SPD's view, integration succeeds where people are given prospects. According to the platform, order and humanity are not opposites.