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Study on volunteers who help refugees, by the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research
Mariana Andrei - Communication Coordinator
19 May 2015
A study performed by the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (BIM) at Humboldt University focused on the volunteers involved in work with refugees. In an on-line survey, researchers interviewed 466 volunteers and 70 organisations, to answer two questions: who helps and why?
Volunteers are generally young, educated, and usually female. According to the study, "two-thirds of respondents said that they wanted to help shape society with their efforts," which leads to the conclusion that respondents were not motivated by personal and professional gain. In most cases the persons interviewed spent much of their time helping refugees navigate German bureaucracy.
According to the study, most of them got involved on their own, in neighbourhoods or various small groups, as a reaction to the mass-media discourse. About one-third of respondents said that their efforts were coordinated through sport clubs. "Very few are actually active in associations, 3.7 percent to be exact," said Serhat Karakayali, author of the study. In his opinion, this research is an important turning point in Germany: "volunteer refugee workers are living the example of what politicians have been talking about for years, namely the transformation of Germany into a welcoming society."
The researchers from the institute in Berlin made a series of recommendations for the German government, emphasizing that such tasks should not be the responsibility of volunteers. Authorities should be more receptive to refugees' needs. Paperwork and visits to authorities should be structured in such a way that asylum seekers can navigate them without help from volunteers, regardless if they have to go to social services, schools or other places.
The authors also recommended that German authorities adopt a telephone translation service for refugees, similar to one already in place in Australia, in order to remove language barriers for bureaucrats and foreigners alike.
Source: http://www.dw.de/as-refugee-numbers-rise-german-study-looks-at-what-motivates-volunteers-to-help-out/a-18391706
Volunteers are generally young, educated, and usually female. According to the study, "two-thirds of respondents said that they wanted to help shape society with their efforts," which leads to the conclusion that respondents were not motivated by personal and professional gain. In most cases the persons interviewed spent much of their time helping refugees navigate German bureaucracy.
According to the study, most of them got involved on their own, in neighbourhoods or various small groups, as a reaction to the mass-media discourse. About one-third of respondents said that their efforts were coordinated through sport clubs. "Very few are actually active in associations, 3.7 percent to be exact," said Serhat Karakayali, author of the study. In his opinion, this research is an important turning point in Germany: "volunteer refugee workers are living the example of what politicians have been talking about for years, namely the transformation of Germany into a welcoming society."
The researchers from the institute in Berlin made a series of recommendations for the German government, emphasizing that such tasks should not be the responsibility of volunteers. Authorities should be more receptive to refugees' needs. Paperwork and visits to authorities should be structured in such a way that asylum seekers can navigate them without help from volunteers, regardless if they have to go to social services, schools or other places.
The authors also recommended that German authorities adopt a telephone translation service for refugees, similar to one already in place in Australia, in order to remove language barriers for bureaucrats and foreigners alike.
Source: http://www.dw.de/as-refugee-numbers-rise-german-study-looks-at-what-motivates-volunteers-to-help-out/a-18391706
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