Immigrants in eastern Germany ask: Leave or stay?

A midsize company in a small town in Thuringia is helping big things get off the ground. N3 Engine Overhaul Services, an up-and-coming company in Arnstadt, services aircraft engines for more than 50 airlines, making sure that the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner can take to the skies safely.  

And business is booming. The subsidiary of Lufthansa and Rolls-Royce is now investing a further €150 million ($167 million) in expanding its operations so that it will be able to service as many as 250 engines a year in future.  

It's an international success story, the company's financial director, Stefan Landes, told DW. "We are a company that connects people and cultures and brings them together to create this incredible product. It is also part of our DNA," he said. "The perception that this can be done only under our own steam is wrong. Without the valuable input from other companies and from other cultures, we would not have gotten to where we are today." 

N3 has a total of 1,100 employees from 25 nations. Among them are IT specialist TJ from the Philippines, Chilean aerospace engineer Luis and Yuth from Thailand, who works in customer service. All three are enthusiastic about the working conditions, the team spirit and the ability to contribute in English.  

Right-wing politics vs. economics

But what was their reaction to the victory of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the state election in Thuringia, a party that Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, describes as right-wing extremist?  

"I am a bit worried, but I'm not afraid," Yuth told DW. "Parties shouldn't resort to stereotypes and lump all immigrants together. We come here to work for an up-and-coming company and do our part, which is not only good for the company, but for Germany as a whole." 

In Arnstadt, one can see the contradiction of Thuringia firsthand: On the one hand, an up-and-coming, globally oriented company that is successfully working to shape the economic future of the region. On the other, the leader of the Thuringian AfD, Björn Höcke, who is hoping for a Germany without immigrants, which would mean a population of 20-30% fewer people.

"We have to bring in specialists, for example from Asia," said Landes. "The success of N3 would not be possible without international skilled workers. With politics that put up walls and insist on isolationism, our company would be doomed to failure. Anyone who, like Mr. Höcke, wants companies that are globally minded to be thrown into serious turbulence, doesn't know much about economic policy." 

Thuringia's health care relies on migrants 

Eastern Germany has already been hit hard by the shortage of skilled workers. In a survey conducted by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, 42.1% of companies in eastern Germany reported that the shortage of specialist workers had a negative impact on their business back in the first quarter of 2024. 

The health care system has also been affected. In Thuringia, one of the German states with the lowest concentration of doctors, one in four hospital doctors are now non-German. Most of the state's 1,700 foreign doctors are from Syria, Romania or Ukraine.

Syrian cardiologist Anas Jano has been working as a senior physician at Jena University Hospital since 2023. He said many of his foreign colleagues are worried about how the situation will develop following the AfD's electoral victory. 

"The doctors here have done their best to be involved in the health care system, and it takes a long time to master the German language," he told DW. "And when you talk to other colleagues and hear these stories, you naturally have second thoughts about coming to Thuringia." But the problem isn't just recruiting medical staff: A large number of doctors leave after only a short time.

It's not only immigrants in eastern Germany who are worried about the success of the AfD. A recent survey by the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) found that one in four people in Germany of immigration background is contemplating leaving the country.

"My colleagues are all following the news every day to see where things are heading," said cardiologist Samer Matar, founding member of the Syrian Society of Doctors and Pharmacists in Germany. "Many say that if Mr. Höcke comes to power, I won't let my children be educated here. This year, a senior colleague and senior physician moved for this very reason. Many colleagues are thinking about whether they should stay." 

Keeping the lights on

But it's not just foreign aerospace engineers, IT specialists and doctors that help to keep Thuringia's economy running. At the Brotklappe organic bakery in Weimar, Oryna from Ukraine has been baking her own specialties in-house for more than two years, while Mohammed, from Somalia, works as an apprentice at the counter.

"Nowhere have I felt as good as at the Brotklappe. It's no comparison with the camp where I worked before," he told DW. "There it was all about money. Here, on the other hand, you have a work ethic and respect. People don't care what you look like, just what you do and how you work." 

For Oryna, too, the Brotklappe, with its 70 employees, is a good example of an inclusive international company; she feels like she is part of a big family. As part of a pilot project, the bakery is now receiving support to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles involved in hiring foreign workers.  

"We also hire people like Oryna who can only speak English," said founder Sebastian Lück. "So people can apply here who might not be able to apply elsewhere. You have to manage things well. If we have a shortage of skilled workers, we have to make sure that we have enough immigrants, including those with the right training." 

Racist harassment has increased

There is one thing they agree on: the fact that almost one in three voters in Thuringia voted for the AfD on September 1 has not made it easier to persuade people of non-German background to come to Thuringia.

In the annual study "Thuringia Monitor," which has been researching the political culture of the state for more than 20 years, a third of respondents expressed their opposition to the immigration of skilled workers. According to the survey, one in five held right-wing extremist views. This is also becoming increasingly apparent on the streets. 

"Since September 1, people on the far right have been more open about their hatred. The day after the election, people were being told, the AfD is coming, soon you'll all be gone," said Bulganchimeg Nyamaa, consultant for democracy advocacy at the organization MigraNetz Thüringen. Nyamaa herself, who was born in Mongolia, also encounters hostility on an almost daily basis. "Just this morning, someone said to me at the tram stop: 'You'll be gone soon!' People then stare at you and get more aggressive." 

For the regional network of more than 60 affiliated migrant organizations in Thuringia, this should show why the government needs to invest in even more political education and awareness-raising work, even more support for international students in the German bureaucratic jungle. Instead, said MigraNetz managing director Elisa Calzolari, they are in danger of having their state funding severely cut under an AfD or even a center-right CDU-led government. 

"It is extremely dangerous how the democratic parties are running after this xenophobic AfD narrative and allowing it to become the norm by repeating and replicating it," she said. "Instead, they should be joining forces with marginalized civil society groups, initiatives, associations and clubs to create a positive new narrative of human dignity, respect and participation. But that's not happening at all right now." 

This article was originally written in German.

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