Ten years after Merkel's sentence: How can refugees be integrated?

Ten years after Merkel's sentence: How can refugees be integrated?

On August 22, 2025, science will take a look at developments in migration research, especially through the central work of Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, holder of the professorship for human geography at the Chemnitz University of Technology. In her new book "Flight, arrival and social change. Perspectives for refugees in the German host society", which is published by transcript-Verlag, Glorius examines the last ten years since the "Long Summer of Migration" and analyzes the integration of refugees in Germany.

The focus is particularly on regional diversity within Germany, where cities and regions vary in their openness or rejection towards refugees. In order to capture this complexity, Glorius conducts interviews with both refugees and members of the host society. The results shed light on different integration trajectories and their impact on local communities.

The role of migration research

Glorius' book is in the context of a larger trend in flight and refugee research in Germany. The joint project “Flight and Refugee Research: Networking and Transfer” (FFVT) aims to strengthen interdisciplinary research in this area. The topics range from migration to conflict, violence and climate change to human rights and health issues, such as humanities-and-social sciences-bmbf.de reported.

A central concern of this project is to support networking among scientists and institutions that deal with refugees. In order to ensure international academic standards, the FFVT plans to establish study and graduate programs in flight and refugee research. A global fellowship program is also offered that promotes dialogue between science, media and politics.

Social and political context

The research area for migration, flight and integration (MFI) at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg also plays a central role in the research landscape. This area is served by Petra Bendel and deals with three main perspectives of migration: labor migration, humanitarian migration and integration. The research formulates indicators for integration and provides political recommendations for action.

The legal dimension of flight is particularly relevant. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which addresses the right to asylum, is often cited in conjunction with the 1951 Geneva Convention, which specifies the rights of refugees and the obligations of receiving states. The MFI cooperates closely with the Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg (CHREN) to investigate the human rights of refugees and migrants and their treatment in Germany.

Developments in migration research reflect a broad societal need for well-founded analyzes and practice-oriented solutions that meet the challenges of integration and refugee reception.