“Concentrating on People. Protecting. Integrating.”

Enlarge image (© picture-alliance/ dpa ) That is the motto of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Nuremberg. The BAMF has now presented a study on Muslim life in Germany, demonstrating once again its considerable competence in the area of migration and integration research. The survey was conducted among 6,004 persons over the age of 16 (counting other members of the households interviewed, the survey actually covers some 17,000 people). The BAMF study, commissioned by the German Islam Conference (DIK), is the first nationally representative collection of data on the subject. It confirms that Muslims form an integral part of German society. The number of Muslims living in Germany has grown to approximately four million, of whom around half hold German nationality. Nearly all of Germany’s Muslim residents have a migration background, most of them coming from Turkey or South-Eastern Europe. In addition, a large number of immigrants from mainly Muslim countries are members of other religions. The majority of Germany’s Muslims are Sunnis, members of other denominations constituting only small minorities. Most describe themselves as “devout”, about a third as “very devout”, women in particular considering themselves highly religious.

The study does, however, also highlight the well-known problems faced in integrating Muslim citizens.Education and employment

Enlarge image Friday prayers at the Merkez Mosque in Duisburg (© picture-alliance/ dpa)

are still ares in which the authors of the study see much room for improvement. The study shows that, whatever their origin, second-generation immigrants are much more likely than their parents to obtain a German school-leaving qualification, thus markedly improving their prospects in terms of employment and social integration. Since 2005, the BAMF has endeavoured to remedy these shortcomings in the area of education by means of measures that include the public and private funding of nationwide language and integration courses through experienced agencies.

The study also deals with questions relating to Muslims’ engagement in religious associations and communities, with the immigrants’ desire for Islamic religious instruction for their sons and daughters, and many other matters.

In June 2009, at its last meeting in this legislative period (chaired by Federal Interior Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble), the German Islam Conference’s plenary session welcomed the results of the study “Muslim Life in Germany” as an important basis for continuing the process of dialogue to foster relations between the state and Muslims in Germany.

Enlarge image Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) (© BAMF) Presenting the results of surveys is not the BAMF’s only job; it has a wide range of tasks regulated by the German Immigration Act. Besides making decisions on asylum applications and refugees’ protection from deportation, one of its principal tasks is promoting and coordinating the linguistic, social and societal integration of immigrants in Germany. The BAMF’s actions are rigorously governed by its self-chosen motto: “Concentrating on People”. This reflects the agency’s development from a pure asylum authority to a centre of excellence for integration and migration matters as its self-chosen task and mission.