01 October 2024
For one participant in the first Re:Match phase in 2023, the answer was clear: "Ask people six months after their relocation: Would you rather live somewhere else in Germany? If the answer is no, then the project was a success. Do you have friends, do you have a job, are you leading a normal life? If they are happy, then it is a success."
These were precisely the questions at the centre of the recently published evaluation report "From Arrival to Belonging: Six Months Results". The results of the report are based on interviews with the 78 Ukrainian people seeking protection who were relocated to six German municipalities via Re:Match in 2023 and taken in there. And they confirm the success of the project: after six months, most of the participants feel safe, have made their first friends and see positive future prospects for themselves and their families.
Six months after the participants from the 2023 matching and relocation phase arrived in Kiel, Braunschweig, Troisdorf, Salzgitter, Rottenburg and Düsseldorf, a large majority (91%) of them say that participating in Re:Match was still a good decision for them - an increase of over 10 % compared to the survey results after one month. Six months is not a long time. Therefore we are particularly pleased that despite this, almost half of the participants have already begun to feel part of the community in their municipality. Newly formed friendships certainly also make an important contribution to this: it is impressive that 67% of the participants report making new close friends among their German fellow citizens.
"I really like it here. In general, I'm still very satisfied. The conditions are very good, the accommodation is spacious, everything is there. I think this is the best place I could have gone to." - Participant, matched with Salzgitter, cohort 3
58% of the participants are still convinced of their match. And even those who no longer felt positive about their city were positive about Re:Match in general and their pace of integration into the community. Similarly, city services still met their needs and most felt safe and happy.
The number of respondents planning to stay in Germany rose from 43 % to 53 % after six months compared to the first survey. A great deal of uncertainty remains and reflects a more general uncertainty with regard to the home country and the prospects on the labour market - in order to improve the latter, many participants state that they want to continue to concentrate on learning German.
"I went to language courses almost immediately. So most of the time I was in courses, but I also tried to travel around the country a bit and integrate. I have German friends, so they are the people I try to communicate with in German and improve my German." - Participant, matched with Düsseldorf, cohort 2
Read the complete publication here and find out more about Re:Match on our Project page.
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