Hebertshausen, a small community in southern Bavaria, has taken in five times as many refugees and migrants as required. Locals explain why Germany depends on immigration and what effective integration into a democracy should look like.
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00:00 Heberthausen, a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria, is not like other towns
00:07 in Germany.
00:08 The just 6,000 townspeople welcome more refugees and migrants to their community than officially
00:14 required and they do so voluntarily.
00:18 The newcomers are needed.
00:22 Like most days, Peter Barth drops into a former hospital where many of the people he takes
00:27 care of live.
00:31 "Barth, are you still here?
00:38 I have to know what this is about.
00:40 This is an application.
00:41 Have we got everything worked out for the weekend?
00:44 This is for someone else, not for you.
00:46 Yes, that could work.
00:49 This is about a residence permit for you.
00:52 I'm sure you can do it yourself."
00:56 Barth advises on application and arranges language courses, urging newcomers to find
01:01 jobs quickly.
01:02 According to him, learning the language and finding a job are key to successful integration.
01:07 "My goal is to put people on the right path, so they can live well here.
01:12 And there's no end to this work."
01:19 Jalo Cherno has benefited exactly from this help.
01:23 Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, he came to Bavaria ten years ago.
01:28 He graduated school and completed vocational training, now working for a temp agency.
01:34 Cherno would like to stay in Germany and become a citizen and he's working hard toward that
01:39 end.
01:40 "It's all about motivation and knowing you want to stay in Germany.
01:46 It starts out as wanting to learn the language, then going to school and then actually speaking
01:51 German.
01:52 It really is very hard to learn, but if you just keep going and going, you can talk to
01:57 people a little and that's very good."
02:04 The Munich temp agency Cherno works at specializes in referring refugees and migrants to companies
02:10 in Bavaria.
02:11 But not all of them have the enthusiasm and motivation that Cherno exhibits.
02:17 "Of the applications we receive every week, let's say only about 10 percent are placeable."
02:23 But in Hebertshausen, the percentage is about eight times that.
02:29 How come?
02:31 The community does not see refugees and migrants as a threat, but more as a chance for local
02:36 businesses in dire need of workers.
02:39 Small businesses like the town bakery are desperate for help.
02:46 The country is reliant on immigrant labor.
02:49 But the conservative mayor from the Christian Social Union would like to see the federal
02:53 government organize it better than it has so far.
02:58 "We can't even manage to distinguish who's entering the country seeking asylum and who's
03:04 coming on the basis of immigration.
03:07 And that's our biggest conflict.
03:09 We're still trying to process everyone under the heading of asylum.
03:14 I'm doing quite well, thanks, and you?"
03:16 "Doing well, Peter."
03:18 Back at the home for refugees, Peter Barth witnesses often that only few who come here
03:23 have a real chance at being granted asylum based on their lives being in danger in their
03:28 home countries.
03:30 Most came to Germany in search of a better life.
03:32 It's difficult for them to find a job while their asylum applications are being processed.
03:37 "I'm afraid he doesn't speak English either."
03:41 Thanks to close personal support and excellent contacts in the Heberthausen area, Barth succeeds
03:46 in finding work here for people from all over the world.
03:49 "I think if people are here, for whatever reason, we should do everything we can to
03:55 integrate them and welcome them."
03:58 A hospital not far off sets its own policies.
04:05 It recruits and employs qualified personnel from around the world, like Hamid Yafey Noday
04:10 from Iran.
04:11 He entered Germany legally on a work visa.
04:14 He had already worked as a nurse in Tehran and studied German.
04:18 For the past year, he's been making a new life for himself here.
04:24 "I think the most important part is the language, of course.
04:32 I'd like to improve my language abilities, because that would give me the chance to expand
04:37 my knowledge and vocational skills."
04:40 "Hello, Messi.
04:43 What can I do for you?
04:44 Have you got some letters?"
04:48 The former real estate manager has no doubt that more people will be moving to Germany
04:52 in the future.
04:53 "We can't dodge the responsibility anymore and build walls, prevent people from coming
04:59 and then pretend we don't have any problems.
05:01 To me, anyone who sees it like that is delusional."
05:04 Peter Barth's advice is to take the current situation as an opportunity.
05:12 Those who come to Hebertshausen will get the help they need to find work and integrate.
05:18 And Hebertshausen could be a model for all of Germany.
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