Flight and integration. A survey of fugitives in Saxony

In 2017, in line with the project funded by the SMWK and the research network co-ordinated at the HAIT on Integration, Xenophobia, and Right-Wing Extremism in Saxony, Steffen Kailitz, together with Gert Pickel, Oliver Decker (Leipzig University), Antje Röder (Marburg University) and Julia Schulze Wessel (TU Dresden/Leipzig University) and project staff members SherynRindermann (Leipzig University) and Christian Eichardt (TU Dresden), concluded an initial survey (pretest) of fugitives in Saxony. This survey was devised as a precursor for a broader, Germany-wide survey of fugitives. Of central concern were questions currently deeply felt within German society:

• What sorts of people are coming to Saxony, what sorts of attitudes do they have and how do they perceive Germany and German society?
• What facilitates and what hinders their integration in the host society?
• How do xenophobia and right-wing extremism affect the integration prospects of fugitives?

In May 2017, a press conference conducted together with State Minister Eva-Maria Stange presented the initial results of the project. In addition, in 2017 the project participants created a working paper containing the basic results of the pretest and in 2018 they prepared a research article on the methodological challenges of conducting a survey of fugitives. Through the considerable efforts of Frank Asbrock (TU Chemnitz), a second project phase has now supplemented the results of the quantitative survey with group discussions among fugitives in Saxony.

Link to the IFRIS project page