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German gov't funds fail to reach projects for refugee integration: study

Xinhua,February 21, 2018 Adjust font size:

BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Many projects to integrate refugees in Germany do not make use of financial assistance offered by the government towards this end, according to a study published on Tuesday by the think-tank Bertelsmann Foundation.

The study was conducted by the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration- and Migration Research (BIM) on behalf of the Guetersloh-based think-tank.

According to the study, 37 percent of refugee initiatives in Germany did not receive government aid despite often indicating a need for additional funds to carry out their activities.

The initiatives surveyed by the Bertelsmann Foundation indicated a lack of time (70 percent), formidable bureaucratic obstacles (58 percent) and insufficient information (48 percent) as the key reasons for having failed to access financial assistance.

Commenting on the surprising findings, the Bertelsmann Foundation called on German policymakers to simplify application processes in related tenders where possible.

Serhat Karakayali, one of the study's authors at the BIM, further noted that it was remarkable that most of the organizations which did receive public funds where already large and established, while smaller initiatives "relied mostly on private donations".

"It is regrettable that these spontaneously-formed and informally-organized initiatives do not benefit from financial assistance from the government," Karakayali said.

"After all, these initiatives played a substantial role in caring for and subsequently integrating refugees when government structures were overwhelmed," he added. Enditem

 

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