Contemporary Influx of Migrants into Germany: threats or opportunities? A Socio-political Discourse

Abstract

Abstract

The influx of migrants is considered as a threat to the host country even when it is generally believed that migration offers opportunities to the host state. Regular and solicited migration may be perceived as an opportunity to the host society, but unsolicited or mass migration usually provokes hostility in the country of arrival. The EU began to experience unprecedented migratory stream in 2014. Germany’s shares of first-time asylum seekers in the EU rose from 35% in 2015 to 60% in 2016 with Germany seemingly representing the home of many migrants that entered the EU between 2014 and 2016. The study was conducted using an explanatory case study to answer the question on why the influx of migrants is considered as threats and a descriptive case study research examines and describes opportunities offer to host country by the influx of migrants. In general, as a research framework, a qualitative research method was carried out on the phenomenon while content analysis was used to analyze regional and national newspapers in Germany covering a 2014-2016 period in relation to the purpose of the study. The findings on RQ1 revealed that influx of migrants into Germany has a causal relationship with social, political and security threats noticed in Germany during the period under review, while the findings of RQ2 showed that demographic benefits acclaimed to always accompany migration are not immediate.

Recommendations were made for further studies to be conducted on the influx of migrants or mass migration of unsolicited migrants in the so-called “immigrant countries” or “migrant friendly societies”.

Keywords: influx of migrants, migratory routes, multiculturalism, assimilation, socio-political threats, unsolicited migration