Social economic phase 1 final documentation

SOCIAL & ECONOMICAL CONNECTIONS AND PROGRAMS FOR REFUGEES

Mai Adel Namariq Al Rawi Nader Khelifi Marie Haibt Salsabil Fahmy Hadir Hawash Heba Aggour Integrated Research and Design Project, MSc IUSD, University Stuttgart, SoSem 2015 IUSD

URBAN REFUGEES Integrated Research and Design Project MSc Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design University Stuttgart Winter term 2014/15 Responsible / lecturer: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, Marisol Rivas-Velázquez - SI Prof. Anje Stokman, Moritz Bellers - ILPÖ Guest lecturer: Josefine Fokdal, Dr. Susanne Kost, Gerd Lüers

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SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL CONNECTIONS / PROGRAMS FOR AND WITH REFUGEES

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INTRODUCTION In the course of the current civil war situation in many countries, the number of refugees all over the world is increasing, nevertheless in Germany. German cities including Stuttgart city are hosting more and more refugees as well as asylum seekers. Different integration policies are being implemented however still a refugee’s life in the host country is not so easy and it needs to be closely studied in order to understand how it can be improved.

In this research three main and extremely crucial aspects are being analysed.

First, the social aspect of a refugee’s life including all the relations and connections that take place throughout his stay in Stuttgart and all the involved actors in this process. The aim of this analysis is to find out what is missing in these connections and what is needed to improve their connections and integration into the society.

Second, the economic aspect, which includes everything related to the money allowance they get, their ability to have a job and the organizations that help in facilitating this. The aim of this analysis is to understand the limitations they face in this field, how does it affect their life and personality. Thus understanding what could be an entry point to improving their economic situation especially from a legal point of view. Third, a rather significant topic which is the programs and activities organized for and with the refugees. What can they do to spend the free time they have, how does the offered activities and programs benefit them and are they really satisfied about that. The aim was to identify the gap areas in theses programs between what is needed and what is provided to know what would be needed as projects for the next phase.

Social Connections:

In the social field, we came up with three main areas of social interaction that happens in the course of a refugee’s life here in Stuttgart and that we wanted to study further.

1- The social interaction between the refugees and the social workers that work in the refugee camps and has the duty of helping the refugees during their stay.

2- The social interaction between the refugees and the German civil society (including migrant societies within Germany) to understand how does the civil society react towards those guests.

3- The social interaction among the different refugee communities themselves. To understand the dynamics of these relations and how refugees from different backgrounds interact in the new host country.

Economic Connections:

In the field of economy, it was studied on two main scales: the scale of the refugee, from his own point of view and on the scale of the city, from its point of view as well and our task was to understand the gap.

The refugee is concerned with: Receiving social benefit (budget assigned by the city) and spending it, searching for a job (depending on legal status) and search for accommodation (depending on legal status).

The city of Stuttgart is concerned more with dividing the assigned budget among different categories including building accommodation, education, transportation, German courses, etc...

To be able to understand the three targeted aspects; social, economic and programs, the network of existing organizations involved with the refugees had to be clearly and precisely identified to be able to locate our topic within this complex network. By doing so, we managed to understand who are the involved actors that we need to contact and that will be targeted by any intervention that deal with any of these three aspects.

Network of Organizations There are multiple organizations involved with the refugees both socially and economically as well as involved in organizing programs for and with the refugees. These different entities can be divided into main sectors as shown in Fig (2).

First, the governmental sector that has a hierarchical character starting from the federal office for migration and refugees then the state of Baden-Württemberg that distributes the refugees on the different cities and so reaching Stuttgart. In the city administration, there is a large number of departments involved in dealing with the refugees including: the Sozialamt (Social welfare office), the department of social benefits, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (job centre), the department of law & order, the department of property & Housing, the department of building laws & regulations, the Alien department, the Youth welfare office and the School administration office. The leaders of these organizations are parts of the Lenkungs gruppe Flüchtlinge: representatives of different organizations that group together to give advices related to different decisions taken by the city.

Below the level of the city, there are five main associations commissioned by the city itself for distributing the refugees on the different accommodation camps where most of the social interaction and organized programs take place. Those five associations form what is called the fluchtingsrat. The fluchtingsrat consists of the AWO Stuttgart (labour welfare) and the AGDW (working community for the third world) as well as three other religious organizations, the Caritasverband (catholic association), the EVA (protestant charity) and the Israelitische religious Gemeinschaft. These five associations assign social workers that help the refugees in their asylum procedure however, the social workers get paid by the city with around 3500 €. Those five organizations are sometimes part of the Lenkungs gruppe Flüchtlinge depending on the topic that the city is deciding upon.

In addition to the three mentioned religious associations, there are some other religious entities involved with the refugees but not as a part of the fluchtingsrat which are the Diakonia Württemberg for Refugees (protestant) and the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Asyl in der Kirche that give asylum through the church.

Not only the social workers take part in helping the refugees but also the volunteers that form what is called the freundeskreises. The freundeskreises of each neighbourhood (volunteers) play an important role in helping the refugees in their everyday life activities. Furthermore there are some other involved NGOs on different levels.

Finally, the refugees themselves have a number of self-organizations –shown in Fig. (2) that they use as their voice and as the platforms through which they express their demands and faced challenges.

Social Connections

Economic Connections

Programs for & with Refugees:

We categorized all the offered programs and activities based on the providing organization, the different fields and levels of interventions. It was found that there are many offered activities for refugees and that the refugees’ interest in the offered vary greatly which indicates a certain defect in analysing the demands.

In a conclusion we want to bring all the three topics together in order to identify the areas of weaknesses and strengths as a starting point for the next phase.

INVOLVED ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES

Provided Programs t

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NETWORK OF INVOLVED ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES

Figure 2: The Network of involved organization and entities

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THE TRUE STORY OF A REFUGEE

Figure 3: A Refugee time-line (a time line showing the stages a refugee passes by in Baden-Wurttemberg)

TIME-LINE OF REFUGEE’S JOURNEY

About the Refugee (Leyla Gashi) The Story Begins .....

Based on multiple unstructured interviews with the refugees and on the external lectures given by representatives from the city and the AGDW, we managed to combine all the gained data in the form of a story board of one of the refugees. This story board shows all the stages a refugee goes through starting from the first entry to Germany till knowing if he/she will get the approval or get deported. The story is divided into main stages, highlighted every time on the time-line, and after each stage the story is paused to get a closer look at what truly happens in this stage. This closer analysis is illustrated in the form of in between diagrams and explained in the text. It covers all the three aspects that are studied in this research (social, economic and programs) and will give a deeper understanding of not only what happens regarding each aspect but also in which stage does it happen in the refugee’s journey.

The role of the different actors is highlighted within these stages, so that it is always clear who is responsible for what.

This storyboard is based on our findings and research about the legal frame and refugees‘ testimonials through the talks that we had with different cases we came across.

The story presented in the coming pages is the story of LEYLA GASHI, a mother from KOSOVO who came as refugee to Germany 5 months ago and faced a lot of challenges along the way. Mainly for economic reasons, this family left their home seeking a better life in Germany.

Figure 4: Refugee‘s Background

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STAGE 1: Entrance to Baden-Württemberg

STAGE 3: Distribution of Refugees in Stuttgart

In this case and in most cases, the people who want to flee their home countries have to pay cladestine organizations up to 2000 Euros to facilitate their escape (fake passports and papers. Organized group escapes...)

In this case they are moved to Stuttgart. In Stuttgart there is around 70 accommodation facilities in 17 of the 23 city districts. the newly arriving refugees are distributed among one of these Asylheims (Jongkind-Schweitzer, 2015).

Figure 5: Refugee‘s journey to reach Germany

Figure 7: Distribution to different cities

STAGE 2: Arrival in Karlsruhe

Figure 6: Refugee in Baden-Wuerttemberg

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After a long journey going through different countries and crossing borders, they finally reach a German state. In this case: Baden-Württemberg. When they are captured , they ask for asylum, then they are moved to Karlsruhe, where they stay there three days to two weeks until it is decided in which city they are distributed.

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DISTRIBUTION OF REFUGEES

STAGE 4: Arrival in Accommodation

They are placed in an „Asylheim“ where they meet the social worker who is responsible and can ask him for help with the paperwork and the next steps they should go through.

Figure 11: Refugees and Social workers

STAGE 5: Refugees’ Demands While Waiting for Acceptance

Figure 8: Distribution criteria

„The German system follows a criteria in distributing refugees both on state and city level. On the state level they allow refugees to move to another state only if they have a first degree relative in the new targeted state. However, refugees of second or third degree relatives are not allowed to move to another state. This is considered to be an extremely strict system strongly criticized since for a refugee who was forced to leave his country and everyone he knew behind, it might be extremely united if he could be united with any of his family members.

On the city level they don’t force mixing refugees from different backgrounds together in the same camp or floors or rooms. They rather tend to gather together refugees of same spoken language, nationality and gender to allow easier interaction. And they try to provide as much as they can privacy to traumatized refugees. The criteria in general is based on the social need of refugees to achieve convenient daily life interaction.

This stage marks the first social connection between three main actors: the refugees, the city and the social workers who carry out the city’s distribution on site in the camp accommodation .

Figure 9: Reception center in Karlsruhe, source: (taz, 2013)

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Figure 10: Refugee camps prototype in Stuttgart, source: (photo by Mai Adel in camp in Hofen)

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Refugees always have a lot of demands; they seek help from the social workers all the time since for them the social workers are the only ones they know in their first period of their stay. But sometimes this makes the social workers overloaded and so become unable to answer all their requests right away, causing frustration for both sides.

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Figure 12: Refugees and Social workers

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DEMANDS OF REFUGEES

In order to identify the needs of the refugees, an Analysis of different Facebook pages of refugees in Stuttgart was conducted. The size of the blue circles reflect how often the several needs are mentioned, the grey circles show whether or not there have been activities going on in order to tackle the need(according to the Facebook pages).

From a broad research on all the different programs and their activities that are conducted in Stuttgart within the context of Refugees by different organizations, we matched them with the needs identified. What can be seen from the diagram is that the Freundeskreise programs are approaching the majority of the needs announced, that are related to everyday life in the refugee accommodation. While governmental bodies and charity organizations are focusing on accommodation, language education, job finding. It seems that child care is covered on several levels, by Freundeskreis as well as school authorities and youth welfare office.

The question can be raised, whether tackling problems on the level of the Freundeskreis is a way of solving a problem, or whether only symptoms can be treated. The need is produced on another level and can only be solved on that level.

Figure 13: Demands of Refugees

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FACILITIES, ACTIVITIES AND DEMANDS OF REFUGEES

- DANCING AND PLAYING MUSIC EVENT

DEMONSTRATIONS One of many demonstrations done by the refugees was on 02 August, 2013 - their demands were: 1. The abolition of property, the performance principle 2. Work permit for all!

3. The abolition of compulsory storage 4. Unrestricted medical treatment 5. The opportunity to learn the German language 6. Stop all deportations!

7. Asylum for all, as each escape has political reasons.

8. The Discriminating of fugitives must stop!

9. The abolition of residence obligation!

On 17 April, 2015 Awo Stuttgart, Flüchlinglingsfreundeskreis Rohr; Dundu for tolerance and solidarity organizations held a dancing and music event for the refugees.

- SPORT On 14 April, 2015 a football training started to take place for the children of the refugees, organized by VFB

- OTHER FACILITIES Crowd funding für Seerettung organization started studying how to empower the Rescue boat support for Refugees on 21 April, 2015.

Figure 14: Demonstration for refugees took place in Stuttgart on 2 August 2013

EXAMPLE OF ACTIVITIES

Figure 18: Football training for refugees‘ children Figure 19: Updating rescue boats and tools for refugees.

- CULTURAL They produced a documentary film on 08 April, 2014 to tell the community what is not obvious in the media.

- SOLIDARITY AND AWARENESS Voice refugee Forum organized a tour around Germany for all the refugees found in Germany from 23 March to 16 April, 2015 for discussing any questions raised and raising their awareness.

USUAL DEMANDS - They usually ask for English materials for English language course.

Figure 15: Cultural activities like a Documentary movie

- SPORT Caritas Stuttgart event of collecting old bikes, repair them and give it to the refugees was held on 16 to 27 March, 2015.

- ENTERTANMENT Hand made Workshop for the refugees, organized by Flüchtlingsfreundeskreises Plieningen-Birkach on 06 April, 2015 and repeated every second Thursday of every month.

- Ask for C.V. tutorials in order to be able to apply for a job.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/refugees.welcome.to.stuttgart?fref=ts - Ask for tutoring in chemistry and biology studies.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/refugees.welcome.to.stuttgart?fref=ts - Ask for internships and apprenticeships in Stuttgart.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/refugees.welcome.to.stuttgart?fref=ts

Figure 16: Awareness and connecting activities like travelling around Germany to connect all refugees together in round tables.

- In need of Volunteers for pregnant women awareness of all aspects concerning the children care before and after birth.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/refugees.welcome.to.stuttgart

Figure 20: Online facility works as an inter-mediator between the owner of an empty apartment for rent and the refugees seeking for private accommodation.

Fluechtlinge-willkommen created on 21 November, 2014 an intermediate website between any citizen and refugees to publish empty apartment for them.

Source: http://www.fluechtlinge-willkommen.de

Figure 17: Several activities took place for refugees

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STAGE 7: Scenario (1) - Acceptance

STAGE 6: Settling Down of Children

Figure 21: children and programs

Children are usually automatically enrolled in preparation classes in order to learn the German language just in time for them to be enrolled in official schools and start their education.

The letter from the Bundesamt is a critical phase for these people and the only way they are officially allowed to stay in the country and start their life starting by moving out of the Asylheim and renting a private flat and looking for a job.

Figure 23: Legal procedures

STAGE 6: Waiting of Older Children

Figure 22: Teenagers and Programs

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STAGE 8: Scenario (1) - Job & Accommodation

Unfortunately, this is not the case for teenagers above 16 who have to wait until they are allowed to be enrolled in schools or in German preparation classes. They spend their time waiting and doing nothing interesting.

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So all refugees keep waiting until they receive this letter and do nothing in the meantime because they think it is useless to make efforts when their destiny is unclear Figure 24: Teenagers and Programs

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STAGE 8: Scenario (2) - Rejection

Figure 25: Legal procedures

STAGE 8: Scenario (2) - Hardship Procedure

In case they are rejected, the first thing that happens is that they receive a letter where they are asked to leave the country. However, in most cases this is not the end of the journey, they still get a second chance.

After this they get back to waiting. They just wait for the court‘s decision about their case.

Figure 27: Legal procedures

STAGE 8: Scenario (2) - Hardship Procedure

Figure 26: Legal presedures

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STAGE 8: Scenario (2) - The return or Duldung

In this second chance phase, most of the refugees need to hire a lawyer to submit their papers to the court and ask for a „Duldung“(explained in the coming analysis part).

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If they do not get the Duldung they are asked to leave the country. This could happen voluntary from their side or in worst cases with police deportation.

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Figure 28: Legal procedures

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POSSIBILITIES FACING REFUGEES Any refugee faces two possibilities, either they get accepted in the asylum procedure or they get rejected, each process has consequences that follows.

In case of acceptance, they are allowed to be united with their family and children. They are allowed to work and be paid according to the German law. They can get social benefits like subsidies for the private apartment in case of not finding a job or the kindergeld- the subsidy for having children. They also get freedom of movement and traveling. Finally, they start to attend the integration courses provided by the city that mainly focuses on language courses and giving courses about the German culture and history. This integration course is considered to be coming in very late; it needs to start much earlier since they arrive in Germany.

In case of rejection, they receive a letter that they are rejected but they get a second chance of going back to court. In this case, they hire lawyers to proceed with their case in court and sometimes they get donations to pay the lawyers. They also need social workers to write them the letters with which they proceed with the hardship procedure. They might get the “Duldung” and become tolerated to stay here in Germany in case they suffer from sickness or real danger if sent back home. The Duldung is “temporary suspension of deportation” (temporary The other option is that they end up with getting a final rejection through which they are asked to leave the country. In case they respond to this voluntarily they can go to the counselling centres for returnees in the city departments where they help them, finish all the paper work, pay their return tickets and give them pocket money to go back home. Otherwise, they get in danger of being deported by the police.

Figure 29: Accepted or Rejected?

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STAGE 9: Refugees’ Waiting and Free Time

The Refugee’s Story ends here .....

Going one step backward, before receiving the letter, the refugees start having plenty of free-time. The Freudeskreis often organize and initiate some activities that they try to involve refugees in, but the waiting time does not let them enjoy and motivate them enough to participate.

Figure 30: refugee‘s activities in the Asylum-seekers home

STAGE 9: Refugees’ Waiting and Free Time

Figure 32: refugee‘s true aspiration

Figure 31: refugee‘s activities in the Asylum-seekers homeAsylum-seekers home presedures

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The few opportunities for them to work are really underpaid. They take cleaning jobs in the Asylheim for not more than 1,05 euro per hour.

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REFUGEES’ ECONOMIC STATUS -

REASON FOR THE FREE TIME

Subsidy from the City of Stuttgart: A budget of 12,270 Euros is assigned per refugee per year in Baden-Wuttermberg, however, 15% to 30% of this amount is covered by the City of Stuttgart as it is considered a rich city. However, this amount is subjected to change since Baden-Wuttemberg assign a period of 6 to 7 months to assess if this amount of money can accommodate the annual needs of refugees. This amount of money is mainly distributed in forms of subsidies for refugees. For example, in the form of pocket money (380 Euros/refugee), reduced train tickets, funded German courses (20 Euros/200 hrs.), and subsidies for renting flats. Reduced Train Tickets: There are two types of reduced train tickets offered by the City, the first type is the standard reduced ticket of 40 Euros instead of 120 Euros. And the second type is the special bonus ticket, which is provided for refugees staying in remote camps, where they might need to take several transportation methods to reach their destination.

Application Stages for Renting f lats: The process of renting flats usually involves several stages. First, refugees search for apartments by themselves, which is usually a difficult process. The second alternative would be that they search for apartments in social housing. However, the third alternative would be that they submit certain applications to the city, which are normally accepted by the city. The fourth alternative would involve social workers and volunteers to help the refugees in the process. If all these alternatives didn‘t work out, then refugees should get in contact with estate agents, where the job centre is then responsible for funding the commission paid to the agent in case the refugee has no job.

Finding Jobs and Professional Education: However, it is always difficult for refugees to find jobs because of the difficulty of being able to prove their professional background, where they are forced to do cleaning jobs in the accommodation and they only earn 1.05 Euros per hour for this job. Therefore, social workers help them in the bureaucratic process of applying for jobs. Another important reason is that local companies don‘t search for skilled labours among refugees. Moreover, it is also difficult for refugees to start a professional education until they are accepted by the City.

Figure 33: Economical Status of Refugees

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THE UNTOLD STORY

Figure 34: The story from the point of view of the social worker

TIME-LINE OF SOCIAL WORKER’S SIDE OF THE STORY

About the Social Worker (Jama Maqsoudi) The Untold Story Begins .....

Having spent sometime in a refugee camp in Hofen, we noticed that there is an untold story about the social workers who deal with refugees on a daily basis. A story that not many people discussed before, which shows the challenges and the difficulties social workers face when dealing with the different cases of refugees.

Therefore we decided to integrate a social worker‘s story board as well in our research in order to understand this interaction since it is one of the most crucial social relations that a refugee experience once they arrive here in Stuttgart and one that has a really high impact on his experience.

It is also based on true facts told by a social worker and by the refugees in the unstructured interviews we undergone in this phase of the research.

Jama Maqsoudi is the director of the refugee camp in Hoden with 25 years experience as social worker dealing with refugees.

Originally coming from Afghanistan and then migrated to Germany to settle and work. He is one of the most dedicated persons to his work as we notices.

Figure 35: the social worker‘s background

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STAGE 1: Becoming a Social Worker

Figure 36: the social worker‘s job title

STAGE 3: Distribution on the camp rooms

Usually, social workers choose this job because they want to help others in need. So in the beginning they are really motivated but a lot of them are young and inexperienced which for them might be an issue since they never dealt with refugees before.

Sometimes it is really difficult for the social workers to distribute the new refugees on the rooms since these are really small and they tend to put people from the same areas together so it is easier for them to communicate.

Figure 38: Social worker‘s policy of mixing in rooms

STAGE 2: Meeting the Refugees

STAGE 4: Dealing with Daily Circumstances

Since some refugee houses have a lot asylum seekers, each social worker is only responsible for a part of them. However, it is still a lot of work to be responsible for 68 refugees taking into consideration what was mentioned earlier about the endless needs and demands from the side of the refugees.

Social workers see themselves as helpers and not as workers who have typical tasks to do and get it over with. They are most of the time the only connection between the refugees and the local people from the city.

Figure 37: Social worker‘s rsponsibility

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Figure 39: Social worker‘s main Task

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STAGE 6: Getting Help from the Freundeskreis

STAGE 4: Dealing with Daily Circumstances

One of the major issues while dealing with asylum seekers is their impatience even with all the efforts that the social workers are putting in their work and the devotion they show.

Figure 40: Social worker‘s main challenge

Social workers also are mediate between the volunteers from different associations who want to help and the refugees.

Figure 42: Social worker‘s and Freundeskreis

The Social Worker’s Story ends here .....

STAGE 5: Dealing with Daily Circumstances

Some of the refugees went through traumatizing situations in their lives. These special cases are dealt with differently because of their psychological state and they get separate rooms with.

Figure 41: dealing with Traumatized refugees

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This job is difficult because social workers have to be gentle and caring but at the same time strict and apply the rules and make the refugees follow these rules.

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Figure 43: what is a social worker?

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ROLE PLAYED BY THE FREUNDESKREIS The volunteering/supporting organizations are usually assigned for volunteers and social workers to help them in dealing with the refugees‘ daily problems and needs. The organizations assigned for volunteers are categorized into two sections, either for training the volunteers or providing programs for them. The UNA (Volunteering across the world) and FSJ/BSD are two International Organizations/programs offering opportunities for volunteers. For the training section, EVA (Protestant charity organization) and FlĂźchtlingsrat e.V. offer training programs for volunteers. The EVA provides various training programs such as programs for elderly care, youth assistance, disabilities assistance, social psychiatry, and assistance for the homeless.

As for the ordinary social workers, there are no special organization responsible for training them except for Refugio Organization which offers training for social workers to deal with traumatized refugees.

However, there are some future initiatives that are supposed to take place from some church organizations, such as the Bildungswerk and Kirchliche Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft fĂźr Erwachsenenbildung, to provide training programs for social workers. Therefore, this diagram shows that there is a need for more organizations providing professional training programs and opportunities for social workers to help them in dealing with the refugees on daily basis and help them in fulfilling their needs.

Figure 44: Freundeskreis

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CONCLUSION RELATION BETWEEN SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & PROGRAMS ASPECTS At the beginning of the research, the aim was to find a way of bringing all the three topics together which are: - The social connections - The economical Connections and - The programs for and with the refugees.

After undergoing the research and understanding the complex situation of the refugees and even understanding the hidden situation behind the known, it became crystal clear that they are not three separate aspects. However, they are indeed extremely interlinked together in cause-effect relations. They build on each other, if one is achieved the rest will and vice versa.

It was found that one of the main causes of most of the problems faced by refugees is the economic status especially here in Germany and the fact that they can not work except after a certain period of time.

This affects them greatly, without a job, they only have free time doing nothing. The excess free time and the long waiting can have psychological impacts causing them to suffer severe depression. However, here comes the importance of having programs ad activities that could fill this free time. In case, these programs were not enough or were not tackling their real needs, they will continue in the same vicious cycle and will suffer from depression.

This leads to their isolation and the depletion of their social interaction, thus limiting the opportunities of integrating into the society. As a reflex, they start to become secluded and confined in their own bubble. In addition, they start to have lower trust in themselves leading to lower self- esteem and higher sense of reliance and dependency on whoever could help them.

Therefore, they start to become extremely dependent on the social workers and eventually on the system in general.

Figure 45: The cycle Linking the research‘s three aspects

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CONCLUSION

ARE THE REFUGEES INTEGRATED?

Figure 46: Dimensions of Integration

Throughout the analysis, the term “integration” appeared a lot, with different meanings related to different parties. This triggered the question of what makes a person feel integrated in a new country. What does the term “integration” mean for a refugee?

In an attempt of answering these questions, the real meaning of integration was researched and it was found that integration in a new country has four main dimensions: social, economic, cultural and political (Armony et al.).

Our topic was mainly concerned with investigating the achievement of the social and economic dimensions but we also touched upon the cultural and the political aspects of integration.

For the social dimension, the city considers that choosing the location of the accommodation close to the neighbourhoods and far from the fringes and the industrial areas as a sign of integration. However, based on the refugees Facebook groups they do not feel integrated at all but rather isolated which is illustrated in Fig. (37). Also, the volunteers organize multiple programs and activities for the refugees in an attempt of integrating them and occupying their free time. However, based on interviews with social workers it turned out that they are not very much interested in taking part in all these activities, all what they are concerned about is finishing their paper work and getting the asylum. Moreover, they lack some key elements of feeling social integration which are the sense of belonging, sense of trust and sense of security. How would they have a sense of belonging if they cannot even speak the language of the country and how would they feel secure if they do not know what would happen in their future.

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For the economic dimension, it is considered by the refugees to be the key dimension that gives them a sense of integration into the society. Therefore finding a job and having equal opportunities as any other German citizen would play a major role in their integration (Armony et al.). However, in Germany they cannot work for the first three months and afterwards it is not so easy to get a job leading to more waiting and more isolation.

For the cultural dimension, it is much better where generally there is a huge societal inclusion of the foreign cultural beliefs, traditions, arts and music. They are not hindered from practicing any of that freely. Therefore, there is some hope in the cultural dimension of the integration.

For the Political dimension, it is quite clear that before getting the asylum process finished, the refugees cannot participate politically in voting or in parties and organizations. However, it is fair to mention that they have their voice heard somehow through their different self-organizations like the VOICE forum and the Caravan for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants.

In conclusion, the integration process is seen to be more of a claimed process that tend to provide some superficial solutions like organizing programs and activities thinking that this is what is needed while actually neglecting the real refugees’ needs which is a crucial point to build on in the next phase of the project.

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CONTACTS

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APPENDIX

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REFERENCES

- Freundeskreis Flüchtlinge Stuttgart-Möhringen - Über uns. Available online at http://www.freundeskreis70567.de/, checked on 5/7/2015.

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- Jongkind-Schweitzer, T. (2015). The admission of refugees in Stuttgart.

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Stuttgart.

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Welcome Center Stuttgart. Available online at http://www.welcome.stuttgart.de/en/item/show/549156?text=activities+for+refugees&perpage=10&category=&rubric=&event_kind=&course_kind=&pageid=3, checked on 5/7/2015.

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- Zeitung, Stuttgarter; Stuttgart; Germany (2013): Camp auf der Thouretstraße in Stuttgart: Asylbewerber beenden Protest - Stuttgarter Zeitung. Available online at http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.camp-aufder-thouretstrasse-in-stuttgart-asylbewerber-beenden-protest.a82b24a7-0186-451b-b832-b6c2b24018e3. html, updated on 1/1/2013, checked on 5/7/2015.

- Zeitung, Stuttgarter; Stuttgart; Germany (2013): Camp auf der Thouretstraße in Stuttgart: Asylbewerber beenden Protest - Stuttgarter Zeitung. Available online at http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.camp-aufder-thouretstrasse-in-stuttgart-asylbewerber-beenden-protest.a82b24a7-0186-451b-b832-b6c2b24018e3. html, updated on 1/1/2013, checked on 5/7/2015.

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FURTHER READINGS - Cities for local integration policy: Intercultural policies and intergroup relations. Case Study: Stuttgart, Germany, p. 150.

- Council of Europe: measurement and indicators of integration, p. 182.

- Dr Sin Yi Cheung; Dr Jenny Phillimore (2013): Social networks, social capital and refugee integration, p. 54.

- Elements of an integrated society and indexing: ten experts weigh in on meaning and measures (2013), p. 16.

- European council on Refugees and Exiles (2013): Information Note on Syrian Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Europe, p. 110.

- Cities for local integration policy: Housing and segregation of migrants. Case Study: Stuttgart, Germany, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions - eva – diakonia in Stuttgart, Mission Statement of the eva – Evangelische Gesellschaft Stuttgart e.V. IUSD - IRD - 2015

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LIST OF FIGUERS Figure 1: Forms of Connections Figure 2: The Network of involved organization and entities Figure 3: A Refugee time-line (a time line showing the stages a refugee passes by in Baden-Wurttemberg) Figure 4: Refugee‘s Background Figure 5: Refugee‘s journey to reach Germany Figure 6: Refugee in Baden-Wuerttemberg Figure 7: Distribution to different cities Figure 8: Distribution criteria Figure 9: Reception center in Karlsruhe, source: (taz, 2013) Figure 10: Refugee camps prototype in Stuttgart, source: (photo by Mai Adel in camp in Hofen) Figure 11: Refugees and Social workers Figure 12: Refugees and Social workers Figure 13: Demands of Refugees Figure 14: Demonstration for refugees took place in Stuttgart on 2 August 2013 Figure 15: Cultural activities like a Documentary movie Figure 16: Awareness and connecting activities like travelling around Germany to connect all refugees together in round tables.

Figure 17: Several activities took place for refugees Figure 18: Football training for refugees‘ children Figure 19: Updating rescue boats and tools for refugees.

Figure 20: Online facility works as an inter-mediator between the owner of an empty apartment for rent and the refugees seeking for private accommodation.

Figure 21: children and programs Figure 22: Teenagers and Programs Figure 23: Legal procedures Figure 24: Teenagers and Programs Figure 25: Legal procedures Figure 26: Legal presedures Figure 27: Legal procedures Figure 28: Legal procedures Figure 29: Accepted or Rejected?

Figure 30: refugee‘s activities in the Asylum-seekers home Figure 31: refugee‘s activities in the Asylum-seekers homeAsylum-seekers home presedures Figure 32: refugee‘s true aspiration Figure 33: Economical Status of Refugees Figure 34: The story from the point of view of the social worker Figure 35: the social worker‘s background Figure 36: the social worker‘s job title Figure 37: Social worker‘s rsponsibility Figure 38: Social worker‘s policy of mixing in rooms Figure 39: Social worker‘s main Task Figure 40: Social worker‘s main challenge Figure 41: dealing with Traumatized refugees Figure 42: Social worker‘s and Freundeskreis Figure 43: what is a social worker?

Figure 44: Freundeskreis Figure 45: The cycle Linking the research‘s three aspects Figure 46: Dimensions of Integration

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