Müge Tuzcu Karakoc says an integration course was decisive in helping her settle in Germany. The Turkish journalist, who has lived in Germany for seven years, only began to feel truly accepted after starting daily German lessons in 2024 alongside Ukrainians, Syrians and Iranians. “We learned more than just a language,” she told DW. “This course allowed me to become part of everyday life again and realize that I have a chance here in Germany.”
Now Germany’s Interior Ministry has announced it will stop approving funding applications for integration courses for many groups of migrants until further notice. Refugees from Ukraine, asylum-seekers, immigrants with “tolerated” status and EU migrants will no longer receive state funding and would have to pay the roughly €1,600 cost themselves. Only when a job centre, immigration office or social welfare office orders someone to take a course will the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) cover the cost.
Tuzcu Karakoc called the move a backward step. “If immigrants cannot participate in daily life, the problems will get bigger. Scrapping integration courses will not make the immigrants disappear,” she said.
Freelance teacher Petra Martin, who has taught hundreds of participants since late 2022, was also surprised by the decision. She warned that without language skills newcomers have little chance of integration and are at risk of taking underpaid work. Integration courses — typically about 700 hours — focus mainly on German language training and also include instruction on the legal system, history, culture and social life. The model has been refined over two decades and nearly four million people have taken part.
Martin and others point out that Germany needs these workers in hospitals, elderly care and public service. The Adult Education Association (Volkshochschulverband, DVV) estimates that austerity measures could affect 130,000 jobs. Low enrollment following the funding freeze has already forced many courses to be cancelled.
The Interior Ministry, led by Alexander Dobrindt of the Christian Social Union (CSU), says the decision reflects tighter budgets and lower migration figures. The ministry told DW it is “reducing false incentives and setting priorities” and wants to reserve support primarily for those who can remain in Germany permanently. Going forward, it said, courses will be more targeted so that those with prospects of staying receive language help.
Natalia Pawlik, the government’s Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration and an SPD lawmaker, disagrees. She says the move contradicts the coalition agreement to invest more in integration and is counterproductive. “In terms of integration policy, it is absurd to demand more integration from people while at the same time denying them the opportunity to do so,” Pawlik told DW. She argues that language is a prerequisite, not a result, of successful integration and that basing support on estimates about someone’s future residency is harmful.
Employers and employment agencies, Pawlik said, have told her they struggle to place people who are not at least at B1-level German. She warned that the funding suspension will create hurdles, prolong dependency on social benefits and make it harder for migrants to live independently, with negative medium- and long-term effects on the German economy.
This article was originally published in German. DW also offers free German language courses.
