Does Germany need more migration? | Flipping the Script

People from over 190 countries live in Germany. One in four German residents has a migration background. This means that Germany is also a country where different cultures, religions and languages meet. In 2015 Chancellor Angela Merkel uttered her famous quote “We can do it” referring to the influx of mostly Syrian refugees that Germany has taken in.

How does this immigration shape Germany today? How much immigration does Germany need, and how much should it allow?

For that debate we have invited Jenny Gamradt-Itri, who works in the youth welfare office in Berlin and says, ‘cultural diversity is an enrichment to society.’ And Torsten Kaulfuss, who is a craftsman, also from Berlin. He says, ‘Germany's migration policies have to change, because things cannot remain as they are.'

DW's Flipping the Script reverses the roles of typical political debates: Voters discuss while politicians sit in the audience, listen and ask questions.

The four-part series tackles issues such as climate change, migration, cannabis legalization and social mobility, putting the concerns of citizens from diverse backgrounds at the heart of political debates. Politicians from different political parties were the audience, asked questions and made comments. Invitations to attend Flipping the Script were extended to politicians from all parties with a parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction
01:05 - Yes or no: Merkel’s decision not to close the borders in 2015 was the right one.
04:20 - Immigration and crime
06:14 - Yes or no: Germany is a country of immigration, and that’s a good thing.
12:33 - Yes or no: Is integration working here in Germany?
22:21 - What does it mean to be German?
25:39 - Politicians reflect on “Flipping the Script”


Politicians in the audience:

Patrick Sensburg, CDU
Bianca Praetorius, CDU
Serpil Midyatli, SPD
Karamba Diaby, SPD
Orkan Özdemir, SPD
Georg Kössler, The Greens
Marcel Emmerich, The Greens
Laura Schieritz, FDP
Nemir Ali, FDP
Robert Fietzke, The Left
Melanie Wery-Sims, The Left
Charlie Birner, The Left

Flipping the script is part of DW's comprehensive coverage of the German Bundestag election campaign and the federal elections on September 26. Get an overview here: https://p.dw.com/p/3ymYc

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