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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION THE INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES INTO THE WORKFORCES OF SWEDEN, GERMANY, AND POLAND FOLLOWING THE 2015 MIGRANT CRISIS MARY KATHLEEN MORAN SPRING 2019 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in Management with honors in Management Reviewed and approved* by the following: Maurie Kelly Professor of International Business Thesis Supervisor Srikanth Paruchuri Professor of Management and Organization Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT The 2015 European Migrant Crisis saw unprecedented numbers of Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans seeking asylum within the European Union. While the EU governance sought to institute quotas that would help to better distribute this population across member nations, national governments and populaces were largely left to develop their own responses to the crisis. These responses varied sharply in accordance not only with pre-existing governmental stances but also with shifts in public opinion. Sweden and Germany, representing left and centrist national perspectives, respectively, exceeded their quotas and initially led with open- door policies. Other nations, including Poland, one of the rightmost EU nations, were assigned enormous quotas but ultimately took on less than 1 refugee per thousand people. This left an overwhelmingly young, male, and Muslim population to be extremely unevenly distributed across an aging and largely Christian European Union, which in turn left many European national governments, workplaces, and populaces to grapple with the integration of migrants into their economies and labor forces. The rise of far-right politics, the inconsistency of responses across the European Union, the aging of European populations, and the cultural divisions between migrant and native populations all played roles in determining the ability and willingness of nations to integrate these migrants. Sweden, Germany, and Poland provided three unique responses to the crisis and represent a portion of the breadth and variety of member nation reactions. This thesis will compare these reactions and the ways in which they have shifted in an effort to provide an image of the current challenges posed to both migrants and European societies. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vi Introduction: The European Migrant Crisis ................................................................ 1 Asylum Seekers and Refugees ......................................................................................... 1 Origins of Asylum Seekers .............................................................................................. 2 Arrival of Asylum Seekers and the Decline of the Crisis ................................................ 2 Demographics of Refugees .......................................................................................... 3 Syrians .............................................................................................................................. 4 Afghans ............................................................................................................................ 5 Iraqis................................................................................................................................. 6 Age, Sex, and Religion of Asylum Seekers ..................................................................... 7 The Response of the European Union ......................................................................... 8 Refugee Quotas ................................................................................................................ 8 Responses of the Constituent Nations .............................................................................. 9 Rise of Far-Right Politics ................................................................................................. 10 Concerns About Muslim Migrants ................................................................................... 11 Spotlight on Sweden, Germany, and Poland ............................................................... 12 Political Spectrum and Basis of Selection........................................................................ 12 Population Shift: Sweden ................................................................................................. 14 Population Shift: Germany ............................................................................................... 16 Population Shift: Poland .................................................................................................. 18 Response of the Government: Sweden ........................................................................ 20 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 20 Changing Rhetoric ........................................................................................................... 21 Changing Politics ............................................................................................................. 22 Response of the Government: Germany ...................................................................... 23 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 23 Changing Rhetoric ........................................................................................................... 24 Changing Politics ............................................................................................................. 25 iii Response of the Government: Poland .......................................................................... 25 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 25 Changing Rhetoric ........................................................................................................... 26 Changing Politics ............................................................................................................. 27 EU Integration Directives ............................................................................................ 27 The Impact of Decreasing “Pull” Factors ........................................................................ 27 The Impact of Early Integration ....................................................................................... 28 The Impact of Education .................................................................................................. 29 Integration Policy: Sweden .......................................................................................... 29 Access to the Labor Market ............................................................................................. 30 Education ......................................................................................................................... 30 Introductory Programming ............................................................................................... 31 Fast Track and Digital Tools ............................................................................................ 33 Integration Policy: Germany ........................................................................................ 33 Access to the Labor Market ............................................................................................. 34 Education ......................................................................................................................... 35 Legislation ........................................................................................................................ 36 Introductory Programming ............................................................................................... 37 Integration Policy: Poland............................................................................................ 38 Access to the Labor Market ............................................................................................. 39 Education ......................................................................................................................... 39 Introductory Programming ............................................................................................... 40 Integration Expectations................................................................................................... 40 Integration in the News ................................................................................................ 42 Integration in the News: Sweden ..................................................................................... 42 Integration in the News: Germany ................................................................................... 44 Integration in the News: Poland ....................................................................................... 47 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix: Eurostat