Refugees

We call for a municipal master plan integration, which is committed to facilitating arrival and orientation in our city, reducing dependencies and quickly securing an independent life for all. This plan should cover education, work, housing and social participation and define clear responsibilities and measurable goals. In doing so, we are guided by the integration concept 2022-2026 of the city of Wiesbaden and are developing it further.

A continuous evaluation of the measures is essential. In order to better understand where there are deficits in the integration of refugees, we want to have a survey organized in 2026 among people from the city who have come to Wiesbaden since 2015. At the same time, we want to check whether the existing integration monitoring of the city can be supplemented by such a regular survey.

We are aware that our municipal options for action are limited by statutory requirements of the federal and state governments. This makes it all the more important to use existing leeway consistently and wisely. In addition, we are using our green influence to promote a decent refugee policy at all political levels.

We want to consistently pursue the path taken by the labour market project ‘Stay in Wiesbaden’ and use all legal options to facilitate access to the labour market for refugees. We would like to work closely with local companies, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Chamber of Crafts and also place a special focus on the refugee target group within our specialist initiative. Measures include support in overcoming bureaucratic hurdles and the recognition of foreign qualifications, low-threshold language and vocational preparation courses, and sponsorships between companies and refugees. This is how we create a win-win situation: Refugees get a real perspective, companies find skilled workers and Wiesbaden becomes more attractive – as a city of opportunities and cohesion.

Measures are needed to ensure low-threshold access to integration services so that all people can benefit from these services. Kitas, schools, neighbourhood work and the parent-child centres (KiEZe) play a key role in this. It also requires tailor-made offers for people with care responsibilities or inflexible working hours. Financial resources for established integration projects must be secured and cuts withdrawn or compensated.

The situation of refugees is fragile in many respects. Not only do most people have traumatic memories of war and violence and a life-threatening escape in their luggage. At the same time, they have to find their way around in a country that is initially foreign to them. Not everyone manages to cope with the demands of bureaucracy and to take advantage of offers of help. Patients who do not have any integration opportunities are particularly at risk, but also young, unaccompanied refugees who fall out of the youth welfare support network due to age. Misunderstood official decisions and missed deadlines quickly lead to a downward spiral: Income, asylum-seeker benefits, accommodation and health insurance are lost, while vulnerability to crime and drug abuse increases.

In order to prevent people from unintentionally falling through the social network, we want to align the existing offers of outreach social work more precisely and effectively. As a pilot, we want to set up a mobile citizens' office, which will visit relevant meeting points in the city and make the offers of various offices, in particular the immigration office, job center, accommodation management, housing office and residents' registration authority, available in bundles.

The existing housing shortage in Wiesbaden particularly affects refugees. Many stay in shared accommodation (GUs) for a long time because they cannot find their own apartment. In times of high allocation figures, such large accommodations are unavoidable. However, we are committed to ensuring that refugees are decentralised as quickly as possible. We support the creation of dormitory concepts as a bridge to the regular housing market, as envisaged in Wiesbaden.

If GUs are still the focus of protection-seeking people for a long time, the standards here must be significantly improved. This includes at least Wi-Fi in all building areas and more cleanliness. We also call for an adaptation of the housing statute, which currently treats refugees as homeless people seeking emergency shelter. This means, among other things, that if a room is not used for seven days, it can be vacated and otherwise used. A termination and transfer to another accommodation is also possible within seven days. In our view, this period must be extended to four weeks. In the same way, we do not consider it expedient that refugees who pursue a job have to pay the relatively high accommodation fee themselves and thus have little or no financial added value through working.

We are committed to providing the best possible support to people with a history of migration in our municipality in order to successfully pave the way to German citizenship. German citizenship is the key to full participation in society – we will actively promote its attainment within the framework of our municipal possibilities. In addition, we want to make the act of naturalization more dignified and valuable and strengthen the annual celebrations for newly naturalized people.

EU immigrants do not have a direct legal right to integration courses. But since this group of people also benefits from language and integration offers, we want to promote here.

Specifically, we want to promote low-threshold language offerings in municipalities, increase funding for voluntary integration courses and develop digital learning platforms. In addition, we want to attract employers for company language courses and expand multilingual counselling centres.

Investing in language support at an early stage is not only a requirement of humanity, but also makes economic sense and strengthens social cohesion.

We Greens are committed to a municipal right to vote for all people living in our city, regardless of their nationality. Democracy thrives on participation and participation. Those who have their centre of life here should also be allowed to play a part in shaping the immediate living environment. A municipal right to vote for all migrants strengthens integration, promotes a sense of belonging and makes our democracy more inclusive. People affected by municipal decisions must be able to shape them through their voice. For a diverse and just society in which participation does not depend on the passport.

We will consistently think together integration and urban development to counteract social and ethnic segregation in our cities. Through targeted investments in disadvantaged neighborhoods, we create livable neighborhoods for all people. With a well-thought-out housing policy, we promote mixed living quarters and combat segregation. Our goal is an inclusive city in which meeting spaces can be created and social cohesion can grow. Public infrastructure – from schools to libraries to green spaces – must be equally developed in all districts. We rely on participatory urban planning that actively involves migrants and takes their needs into account. In this way, we create spaces that enable and promote integration.

We GRÜNE are committed to a Welcome Center in a central location that supports people who come to Wiesbaden from abroad. There you will receive advice and contacts on all important questions about arrival: Stay, learn German, work, vocational training, family and health. The Welcome Center should be a low-threshold, reliable and barrier-free place that expresses appreciation for immigrants, offers orientation, facilitates integration and enables participation.

As Greens, we are committed to a decent refugee policy. Wiesbaden has already joined the Safe Harbours initiative and has agreed to actively take in additional refugees. This requires multilingual contact and counselling centres, decent accommodation for refugees, easier access to the labour market, language courses from day one and close cooperation with civil society organisations.

Escape is not a crime. Wiesbaden stands for solidarity and humanity. With your voice, we are making our city a model for a humane asylum policy.

We Greens want the payment card for refugees in Wiesbaden not to lead to stigma and exclusion. Instead of restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles, we are committed to self-determination and participation. That is why we have made a clear commitment in urban policy to ensure that refugees can use their services with the card without restrictions – including free cash withdrawals and without exclusions of goods or services. Although the state of Hesse has so far blocked this more humane solution, we remain in our position: A payment card must not be an instrument of discrimination, but must promote participation and integration.

In 2024, we launched the project ‘Stay in Wiesbaden – Labour Market and Integration Counselling for Patients and Allowed’. The aim is to finally open up perspectives for people who have often lived in Wiesbaden for many years. The project offers advice, assistance in clarifying residence and access to the labour market. Even when 29 people from the service-related background come into work, the project is self-sustaining. In this way, we create participation, perspectives and real opportunities for those who have been patient for many years.

We have ensured that queer refugees in Wiesbaden are visibly supported and well integrated. Through political decisions, we have promoted cooperation between the city, AIDS-Hilfe Hessen and other organisations. The Rainbow Refugee Support project provides counselling, support in asylum procedures, psychosocial support and group offers to prevent isolation. We Greens have created the framework for queer refugees to experience protection, empowerment and participation in our city.

In a diverse urban society, integration is not a one-way street in the sense of ‘cultural adaptation’, but a reciprocal process that demands something from both arrivals and residents. This understanding of integration is anchored in the city’s current approach to integration 2022-2026. In the future, we want to replace it with a concept that does not focus on the misleading concept of integration, but on the concept of diversity.