Overview

• The share of refugees who feel welcome fell from 84% in 2017 to 65% in 2023, according to the DIW long-term study.
• Refugees most often report discrimination in housing (32%), during job searches (18%), and at the workplace (14%), typically tied to origin, language, or name.
• Those working in East Germany report more discrimination than in the West, with refugee men in the East especially affected in job and housing searches.
• The proportion of refugees worried about xenophobia climbed from roughly 30% in 2016–2017 to 54% in 2023.
• Study authors see the decline in welcome connected to a harsher migration debate and stricter measures, noting Interior Ministry data of 11,800 deportations in the first half of 2025.