"The people working here are dong their very best," said Chancellor Angela Merkel when she visited the Berlin branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Impressed, she thanked the staff for their tireless efforts. The Chancellor then went on to visit an initial reception centre run by AWO to find out more about accommodation for refugees.

Thanks for all the work under difficult conditions

"I would like to thank the staff of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees for the sterling work they are doing, under difficult conditions, and with them the many others who are doing likewise," said Angela Merkel after her visit. She is convinced, she said, that the fate of every individual is taken seriously. "The people who are working here are doing their very best."

The Chancellor said how impressed she was on her visit to the AWO reception centre "to see how everybody was working with such love". She thanked all the staff. "Everything possible is being done here to ensure that the people are well cared for." After talking to two families she stressed, "People will often find themselves integrating through their children."

BAMF and Federal Employment Agency pilot project

She also pointed out that the Berlin branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also houses a Federal Employment Agency office, which is able to provide people with rapid information about the situation on the labour market.

This is a "pilot project, which is typical of what we aim to achieve over the next few months," said the Chancellor. As many people as possible are to be put in touch with the Federal Employment Agency as soon as their residence status has been approved.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has branch offices in every federal state across Germany. These offices process requests for asylum, coordinate integration in the regional setting and perform migration-related work. With its 22 branch offices and four external units, the BAMF currently employs about 2,200 staff, 1,000 of whom work at headquarters in Nürnberg.

Visit to a welcome class

After her visit to the BAMF office, the Chancellor visited the Ferdinand Freiligrath School in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The secondary school teaches about 240 young people from a number of different cultures. The Chancellor visited a welcome class and spoke to the students and the head teacher. It was a very friendly conversation, reported head teacher Anke Schmidt, and all in German. "The students asked the Chancellor where she had gone to school, what languages she speaks, and what made her become Chancellor."

Later the Chancellor said that she had been very impressed by the work of the teachers. The children are sometimes taught in a cross-class setting. It is a "very forward-looking concept" of the city of Berlin, to give every child a place in a welcome class as quickly as possible. The challenges are huge. That is why the city leaders pointed out in talks that swift action is called for.

"It is worth making an effort for every single child," stressed the Chancellor. The children are very enthusiastic and willing to learn, she reported. "We want to give them a good future."

Language for integration

At the school in Kreuzberg, there are currently 32 children in three welcome class, where the focus is on learning German. Language skills are an important foundation for integrating the children into their new environment.

In Berlin some 5,000 children and young people are currently learning German in 431 welcome classes, officially known as "learning groups for new students with no knowledge of German". Welcome classes are found at primary schools, and in the various forms of secondary schools that exist within the German school system.

On average a welcome class numbers 12 children, who focus their efforts on learning German. The aim is that after one year at the most they will have learned enough German to join an age-appropriate class.

The Ferdinand Freiligrath School is receiving support from the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and the Conference of the Ministers of Education and Culture of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (federal states) in the Federal Republic of Germany, under the auspices of the BiSS programme (the German acronym stands for education through spoken and written language).

Never, since the Second World War, have so many people fled their homes at once, said Angela Merkel during the budget debate in the German Bundestag. Up to 800,000 people will arrive in Germany this year as refugees and asylum-seekers, she said. Germany is helping, declared the Chancellor.

Removing obstacles

Now it is a question of "rolling up our sleeves and getting rid of all the obstacles that are in the way". Then we can live peacefully with the people coming to Germany. But, it is quite clear, stressed Angela Merkel, "We cannot simply carry on as we have done to date." Asylum-seekers and civil war refugees must be integrated rapidly. "We must learn from the mistakes made in the 1960s and forge ahead rapidly with integration." Then, she said, the opportunities outweigh the risks.