Research
Database

Mid-2013, estimates of Bahrain s population stood at 1,253,191 persons, of whom 638,361 (51 per cent) were foreign nationals. Most were from Asia (85 per cent) and especially from India (half of all foreign residents). Eighty per cent of expatriates are employed. They account for 77 per cent of the employed population and 81 per cent of the private sector s workforce. Asians are overwhelmingly involved in services and blue collar occupations, while Arabs more often fill managerial posts. Immigration flows to the Kingdom increased significantly over the 2000s, fuelled by high oil prices and the ensuing boom in the construction and services sectors. This demonstrates the difficulty to reconcile labour reforms, and especially, the Bahrainisation of the work force, with the maximisation of economic productivity.

Within the framework of the INTERACT project, this paper aims to shed light onto a specific facet of the role of sending countries in migrants' integration processes: culture. Culture is analysed as one of the tools that both migrants and countries of origin resort to in order to maintain reciprocal ties after migration. Following a brief presentation of the anthropological and sociological definitions of culture and the consequent notion of 'cultural identity' on which the analysis builds, we study the concrete implementation of these dynamics. In particular, our attention is deployed at three levels: the level of migrants' everyday practices (including the use of the origin language); the policy level (pertaining to both diaspora and integration); and the association level (cultural centres in particular). Through the study of several transversal examples, we consider the broader issue at stake in this paper: the possible connection between migrants' performance in the culture of their country of origin and integration processes. We take into account the European legal framework within which both migrants and national governments function, and the influence it has on discourses and national and international policies addressing integration issues. We reach the conclusion that no causal or univocal link can be established between cultural practices and integration, for several reasons: a variety of factors are at play in integration processes within multi-cultural urban spaces, including socio-economic issues and power relations, which are crucial; culture itself is a changing and combined set of behaviours which determine dynamic and multiple belongings and which need a comprehensive approach; and identities shape the interaction among cultures - which is why we finally state the usefulness of the notion of 'ethnicity'.

The present report looks at the integration of Moroccan and Ukrainian migrants living in Italy. Beyond being quantitatively important in the Italian context, these two groups differ largely in terms of demographic characteristics, migration patterns and insertion modalities but also with respect to emigration and diaspora policies. Two core aspects of integration are emphasized in this report. First, integration processes are evaluated from a multi-dimensional perspective. Second, the role played by origin (and destination) country determinants in facilitating or constraining integration is investigated. Origin determinants include the ties between migrants and their country of origin, country-fixed characteristics, diaspora and emigration policies at origin and the engagement and role of non-state organisations. To this aim, three sets of data have been employed, making this report largely multidisciplinary: an in-depth analytical description of the legal and political frameworks at origin and destination, a quantitative analysis and an explorative qualitative survey. This report finds evidence that integration levels, determinants and, specifically, the role of origin factors vary largely across dimensions. In the labour market, both Moroccan and Ukrainian migrants living in Italy show high levels of integration. These extremely positive performances seem due more to destination than origin factors - namely Italy’s labour market specificities and migration history. Conversely, origin determinants presumably have a lower impact. In addition, the role played by NGOs appears relevant in helping migrants find employment - not good employment or well-remunerated employment but just employment. In the education dimension, things differ. At an international level, Ukrainians living in Italy show good levels of integration once controlled for natives’ performance. Origin determinants - in terms of conditions at home - thus seem to prevail here. Not surprisingly, the degree of integration in the ‘access to citizenship’ dimension is connected to the degree of openness/restrictiveness of host citizenship laws and, accordingly, to the length of presence in the country. Our results confirm that Italy is still one of the countries where getting citizenship is one of the main constraints for migrants in both recent communities (Ukrainians) and well-established ones (Moroccans). Finally, cultural integration is a main obstacle to Moroccan integration, while Ukrainians are also found to be in a difficult position with respect to social and political integration. In terms of ties between migrants and their country of origin, a micro-level analysis confirms a very clear pattern: the lower the (cultural, economic, political, social) ties, the higher the level of integration. This applies - to a different extent - to all dimensions and types of ties.

This report aims to present integration activities undertaken by state and non-state institutional actors at the national and local level in Poland. Up to now, the issue of immigrant integration in Poland has been neither a social nor a political problem, which can be explained in particular by the fact that foreigners constitute only a small portion of Polish society. A lack of interest in immigration by the wider public fosters the elaboration of integration-related policy in a more technocratic way, without pressure from politicians and the media. Despite the adoption of the strategic document “Poland’s Migration Policy – Current State of Play and Further Actions” by the Polish government in 2012 (supplemented by the action plan approved in 2014), Poland’s integration policy may still be regarded as not well-considered or developed. It is based largely on integration activities carried out by NGOs and is highly dependent on the availability of EU funds. Without this external funding, the majority of integration projects in Poland targeted at third country nationals, especially those not under international protection, could not be implemented.

In this report we analyse the differences and similarities between the Turkish and Russian immigrants in Germany at the destination but also between the two countries of origin in order to assess their integration outcomes. We investigate the following question: what is the impact of the country of origin (Russia and Turkey) on integration outcomes in Germany? We found that the migrating groups have different characteristics (flows and stocks) and each group has been subject to a different entry policy, including different rights and obligations. In fact, the structural and policy factors at the destination are the key elements that influence the success of integration or failure of migrants. As regards the impact of the country of origin, understood as policies and practices targeting diaspora for better integration, it is negligible so far. The diaspora policies do not support integration. On the contrary, they aim at re-focusing migrants’ attention back to the country of origin. This policy can have positive ramifications for integration outcomes, e.g. when it supports Turkish migrants’ crossborder business activities or enhances Russian-language proficiency among the diaspora so that they can later on use it in international business environment. As our report shows, there is an important group of actors on various levels of governance that work to improve the final outcome. In the case of migrant organizations and organizations helping migrants in Germany, they form an additional arm of integration policy. Being close to migrants and having intimate knowledge of their integration needs, they focus on topics and fields of action that are most relevant for a successful migration story. They also form the most tangible bridge between the origin and destination.

This report analyzes migration processes from Ukraine and Russia to Poland from the perspectives of the political frameworks existing in both the sending and receiving countries, with special attention to links between integration and diaspora policies and their roles in shaping migration flows and integration practices. The report is based on both quality and quantitative original research, including the exploratory survey targeted representatives of civil organizations working with migrants conducted in INTERACT project. The research confirms that there is a serious gap between the legal and institutional state’s frameworks, and their implementation in practice. The survey results confirm that in the case of Ukrainians and Russians migrants residing in Poland, there is a lack of evidence of any organized support from the country of origin and country of destination with respect to migrants’ integration in the receiving country.

This report compares two important corridor migrations to Belgium in order to better understand the variation in several dimensions of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants’ integration – in particular, labour market, education and citizenship. It is based on an original methodology combining three different data sources (an analysis of the legal and political frameworks, a quantitative analysis, and a survey). It aims to test the INTERACT project’s main hypothesis which conceives of integration as a three-way process. This report provides insight on integration from the immigration country perspective but also from the countries of origin; it appraises the impact that Turkey and Morocco may have on the integration of their migrants in Belgium. The main findings are the following. Firstly, the countries of origin may have an impact on integration when emigration starts. Secondly, countries of origin may have a positive or negative impact on some integration dimensions (citizenship) but no obvious impact on others (education and labour market). In their efforts to maintain and develop links and to protect migrants’ rights abroad, countries of origin can thus facilitate integration, but indirectly.

Unzählige Dinge wandern über den Erdball – unter anderem in Form von Handelsware, als virtuelle Gestalten auf Computerbildschirmen oder auch im Gepäck von Touristen oder Migranten. Im Verlauf dieser Wanderbewegung kann sich die Bedeutung der Dinge, aber auch ihre Gestalt verändern. Doch was signalisiert das Trikot der kroatischen Nationalmannschaft, wenn es von einem Jungen in Raqqa getragen wird? Und was wird aus dem Container, wenn ihn Flüchtlinge bewohnen? Eine moderne Gesellschaft lebt am Schnittpunkt zahlreicher Waren- und Migrationsströme und bildet zwangsläufig eine transkulturelle Ordnung der Dinge aus. Im Rahmen dieses prekären Gemenges verbinden, überlagern oder stören sich Formen unterschiedlichster Herkunft. Manche Dinge – der Kruzifix, das Kopftuch oder bestimmte deutsche Automarken – eignen sich zur Verstärkung kollektiver Identitäten oder provozieren, als Kehrseite der Medaille, vehemente Abwehrreaktionen. Daneben gibt es bedeutungsoffene Formen, die sich auf vielfältige Weise aneignen und umarbeiten lassen: Melodien, Speisen, Sportarten oder Mode. Zudem umfasst materielle Kultur eine große Zahl von Gebrauchsgegenständen, deren transkulturelle Herkunft selten bedacht, geschweige denn explizit wahrgenommen wird – wie Porzellan, Teppiche, Lackwaren, Parfum oder Shampoo. Dieses Alltäglich-Zuhandene schmuggelt sich in die Lebenswelten, wobei es diese unbemerkt umkrempelt. Somit bezeugt die transkulturelle Gegenwart der Dinge nicht nur verschiedenste Wahrnehmungs- , Denk- und Handlungsweisen, sondern prägt diese auch mit.

Bis heute gibt es keine umfassende Theorie, die alle Migrationsprozesse in ihrer Komplexität erklären kann. Aus diesem Grund wenden wir eine Theorie mittlerer Reichweite an, um Ansätze der unterschiedlichen Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften miteinander in einem Analyserahmen zu verknüpfen. Solch ein Analyserahmen, muss über den einzelnen Migranten hinausgehen und fähig sein, Faktoren aus der politischen Ökonomie mit einzubeziehen, um die Mikroebene analytisch mit politischen, ökonomischen, und sozialen Faktoren der höherer Ebenen zu verknüpfen. Der Analyserahmen basiert auf dem Soziologischen Neoinstitutionalismus und erlaubt es, die Entscheidungsfindung im Migrationsprozess zu untersuchen, da er das Handeln einzelner Akteure innerhalb von Strukturen beschreibt und unterschiedliche Ebenen der Analyse verbindet. Neoinstitutionalismus ist transdisziplinär zwischen den Politik-, Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften angesiedelt. Aus diesen Gründen ist der Soziologische Neoinstitutionalismus hervorragend geeignet, das komplexe Geflecht von Faktoren, welches die Migrationsentscheidung des Akteurs beeinflusst, in einem einzelnen kohärenten Analyserahmen zu untersuchen. Allerdings fordert ein derartiger Analyserahmen ein methodisches Werkzeug, welches in der Lage ist, die verschiedenen Faktoren der unterschiedlichen Ebenen simultan zu modellieren. Ein Bayessches Netz ist solch ein innovatives Instrument. Es kann die systemische Komplexität der Migrationsentscheidung modellieren und die Verflechtungen der unterschiedlichen Faktoren aufdecken und so neue Wege aufzeigen, wie Migrationsentscheidungen durch mögliche Politikmaßnahmen beeinflusst werden könnten. Regional konzentriert sich der Antrag auf Kasachstan. Kasachstan ist der ökonomische Motor in Zentralasien und ist durch eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher und faszinierender Migrationsbewegungen, welche teilweise politisch initiieret wurden, geprägt, z. B. Einwanderung, Auswanderung, Wiedereinbürgerung, und Wanderungsbewegung innerhalb der eignen Grenzen. Hier fokussieren wir uns auf Migration innerhalb von Kasachstan. Diese Art der Migration wurde nicht nur in Kasachstan sondern weltweit in der Forschung innerhalb der letzten Jahrzehnte zugunsten länderübergreifender Migrationsbewegungen vernachlässigt. Durch die Anwendung eines neuen analytischen Forschungsrahmens und einer neuen Methode innerhalb einer sehr migrations-aktiven Region, hoffen wir die Migrationsforschung nicht nur in den Bereichen der Theorie- und Methodenentwicklung voranzubringen, sondern auch zu neuen empirischen Ergebnissen zu gelangen.

Since the mid-1970s, the World Population Policies Database, last updated in 2015, provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on the population policy situation and trends for all Member States and non-member States of the United Nations. Among several areas, the database shows the evolution of government views and policies with respect to internal and international migration. The migration strand covers internal migration, immigration, emigration, and return. The Database is updated biennially by conducting a detailed country-by-country review of national plans and strategies, programme reports, legislative documents, official statements and various international, Inter-governmental and non-governmental sources, as well as by using official responses to the United Nations Inquiry among Governments on Population and Development.

We will merge labor market information on German migrants observed working in Austria with their labor market outcomes during any years they were working in Germany (either before or after their time in Austria). Similarly, we will merge labor market information on Austrian migrants observed in Germany with their labor market outcomes for any years they were working in Austria. To illustrate the nature of the resulting data set, consider a German citizen who works for several years in Germany (say, from ages 19 to 24), then moves to Austria for several years, then returns. For this individual we will be able to construct a complete longitudinal history of earnings outcomes in both the home country (Germany) and the destination country (Austria), before, during and after the migration spell. The available data for each worker will include: gender and year of birth; total earnings and total days worked in each job held in either country; all spells of unemployment in either country; geographic location and industry of each job; characteristics of co-workers at each job (e.g., fraction of co-workers who are migrants from Germany or Austria); detailed occupation (for all jobs in Germany) or blue-collar/white collar status (for all jobs in Austria); and education (reported for jobs in Germany). We will supplement these data with corresponding information on samples of native (non-migrant) workers in the two countries. These supplementary data will be used in two ways: (1) to form detailed comparisons in the home country labor market between people who emigrate and people who do not, before and after a migration spell; and (2) to form detailed comparisons in the destination country labor market between immigrants and natives. Our analysis plan includes three main components: (i) Descriptive Analysis of Migration Flows between Austria and Germany (ii) Analysis of outcomes before and after first migration experience (iii) Analysis of return migration and circular (repeat) migration Projektziel Analyse von Wanderungsströmen zwischen Österreich und Deutschland und Auswirkungen der Mobilität auf den Arbeitsmarkterfolg. Beteiligte Institute Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit Universität Mannheim University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Economics Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Department of Economics

"Theoretical background and objectives The emergence of the PEGIDA movement in 2014, the right-winged terror of the NSU, as well as the violent protests against refugees in 2015 demonstrate how easily anti-immigrant attitudes become politically mobilized. However, the recent wave of refugees from Syria and other countries has also sparked high levels of solidarity and civic engagement among many Germans who have welcomed refugees with open arms and gifts. Apparently, the very same social reality triggers feelings of fear or dislike in some and feelings of sympathy and empathy in others. Yet such individual differences in reactions to immigration and ethno-cultural diversity are also region-specific. At first sight it seems that perceived threat and hostility are more wide-spread in the East, whereas acts of solidarity are more common in the West. The question that we like to ask in our project is why this is the case. In other words, why do East Germans appear to feel more threatened by ethnic diversity, otherness and different immigrant and refugee groups? Previous studies have shown that xenophobia is particularly strong among Eastern Germans compared to their Western counterparts; and that is also true for societal attitudes such as generalized trust. Often these findings had been related to the harsher socio-economic realities of the East and the lack of intergroup contact. However, other research indicates that particularly East Germans maintain a relatively high support for overall social solidarity especially when it comes to redistribution of resources and reducing the divide between the poor and rich. How can these two divergent findings be reconciled? What is behind the East/West divide on such societal attitudes and how do they translate into support for various political solutions to the refugee crisis? Is xenophobia in East Germany a discrete phenomenon or rather part of a larger (a)social syndrome? Research design, data and methodology Drawing on well-established theories on social identity, life events, intergroup contact, threat, or deprivation, we will apply a mixed method design (combining different data sources and methodological approaches) in order to disentangle the dynamics that make some Germans and particularly East Germans vulnerable to xenophobia—while simultaneously asking about the characteristics at the individual and contextual levels that make some people resilient against it. We plan to combine existing surveys, new surveys, experiments as well as regional statistics to answer these questions."

Since almost 150 years, Luxembourg depends on two kinds of migration, qualified and non-qualified, in order to deal with the workforce needs of its economy. Compared to the other EU Member States, Luxembourg is the country with the largest proportion of foreigners; however, this foreign population is mainly composed of EU citizens. Due to its size and geographic position, Luxembourg was able to have access to a very particular form of economic migration: cross-border workers. Globalisation has also played a decisive role in the development of economic migration for the Luxembourgish labour market. The financial centre was obliged to become highly specialised in order to remain competitive in regards to other financial centres and to maintain its volume of business. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, Luxembourg needs highly skilled personnel, which the country has found, up until now, within the Greater Region. This reality is even more pronounced with regards to the labour market: the number of actives (salaried and non-salaried) on 31 March 2014 shows that Luxembourgish nationals represented only 31%, EU citizens 65% and third-country nationals only 4%. Cross-border workers from Belgium, France and Germany represented 42% of the workforce and the resident migrant population (EU citizens and third-country nationals) 28%. Cross-border workers, which consist of skilled and highly skilled labour are substantially attracted for two reasons: 1) more competitive salaries on the Luxemburgish labour market ; and 2) a geographical location which allows the commuting of cross-border workers. The attitude of the successive governments was to adapt immigration to the economic needs of the country. The government policy intends to focus on attracting highly added value activities focussed on new technologies (biomedicine and information as well as communication technologies – focusing on IT security), logistics and research. However, being one of the smallest countries in the European Union, Luxembourg has limited human resources to guarantee the growth not only of the financial sector but also of the new technologies sectors. The government introduced the highly qualified worker residence permit in the bill on free movement of persons and immigration approved by law of 29 August 2008 almost a year before of the enactment of the Blue Card Directive to facilitate the entry of third-country national highly qualified workers. However, this reform was isolated and incomplete and took place without making a real evaluation of the workforce demand of the different sectors of the economy. Even though until now Luxembourg has been relying on the workforce from the Greater Region, for some socio-economic and political stakeholders, highly qualified workforces began to become scarce in the Greater region. In addition to the cross-border workers, the lifting of restrictions to access all the sectors of the labour market for citizens of the new Member States (EU-8) can be considered as a mitigating factor for the need to make an evaluation of the workforce demand, because the high salaries paid in Luxembourg became a real pull factor for the highly qualified workers. As a consequence, the political authorities did not foresee a systematic plan on how to address labour shortages in specific sectors of the economy, because there has not been a significant need for doing so.

This project investigates the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) for new migrants in superdiverse contexts. It explores whether CSOs are instrumental in the building of social relations during their settlement process. This social aspect of settlement, also described as social integration, is crucial regarding other aspects of settlement such as access to education, housing and the labour market. The project also looks at the role of CSOs regarding the relationships which long-term residents, both of ethnic majority and minority backgrounds, form with newcomers, addressing issues surrounding integration as ‘two-way-process’. The project will lead to novel findings because: • Rather than focussing on established ethnic minorities, it investigates patterns of integration of people originating from relatively new source countries who settle into already superdiverse contexts • It is situated within an emerging research field on new conditions of superdiversity which have rarely been explored systematically • It goes beyond existing quantitative work on civil society participation • It will develop theory around social contact, social capital and integration nuancing current thinking around the role of CSOs in settlement Superdiversity has resulted from changing immigration patterns into Europe, with people entering cities in substantial numbers, and from far more countries of origin than ever before. This has resulted in a condition of more ethnicities, languages, religions, migration experiences, work and living conditions and legal statuses than many cities have ever faced (Vertovec 2007). By way of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in two UK urban neighbourhoods, and drawing on existing theory, method and policy, the project will elicit how new migrants settle in such contexts, how long-term residents deal with unprecedented population changes, and what the role of CSOs is in this process.

From Lebanese immigrants in Argentina to Iraqi refugees in Sweden, Eastern Christians can be found today scattered across the entire world. Too often, however, this global migration has been seen purely as a modern development, one arising from contemporary political and confessional events in the Middle East, while in fact this phenomenon had its roots in the early modern period. From the sixteenth century onwards, Christians from the Ottoman Empire set out for distant worlds and foreign lands, travelling as far as Europe, India, Russia, and even the Americas and leaving traces of themselves across countless European and Middle Eastern archives, chanceries, and libraries. This transnational, ground-breaking project will gather all of these disparate sources into a single analytical frame to uncover, for the first time, the global and connected histories of Eastern Christianity in the early modern world. Through the work of a team of researchers under the close supervision of the PI, the project will reconstitute and analyse a ‘lost archive’ of literary, documentary, and printed sources in three continents, ten languages, and dozens of archives. Under the expert leadership of the PI, the project will include a robust strategy for dissemination, which will successfully bridge the fields of Middle Eastern, European, and global history. In doing so, this project will respond directly to one of the most pressing conceptual challenges facing global history today, that is, how to link the study of the micro-scale level of everyday life to the macro-narratives emphasised by global historians. Underlying this project, therefore, is a major intervention that seeks to advance a rigorous form of global history, and one which preserves philology and source criticism at the heart of its methodology. The outcomes of the project will include print-publications, workshops, and a searchable database of all writings by Eastern Christians from 1500 to 1750.

Poor countries are often plagued by civil wars. They are also, in many cases, emigration countries. Anybody interested in the development of such countries must understand to what extent these phenomena are interrelated, and how they interplay with each other. If it is pretty clear that civil wars push people to leave the country, it remains understudied how diasporas play a role in the emergence and evolution of violent conflicts. Indeed, the interactions between diasporas and conflict have roughly been overlooked by the economic literature to date, in spite of the very suggestive pieces of evidence provided by related research fields and of the very important policy questions that it raises – in particular, how to optimize the contribution of diasporas to peaceful development. Based on case studies such as those of Erytrea or of Sri Lanka, the literature in history and political science underlines diverse mechanisms through which diasporas have intervened in the evolution of violence in their home country, either as peace-builders or as peace-wreckers. On the other hand, in these case studies, the evolution of civil wars also appears to have been determinant of emigration and return migration patterns and, eventually, of the nature of diasporas’ involvement in the political situation in the homeland. This project will investigate the joint dynamics of civil conflicts and migration in developing countries. It will first build a theoretical framework to characterize how diasporas and civil wars interact together, accounting for the endogeneity of both migration and violence. The theoretical predictions derived from this framework will then be empirically tested, relying on recent and original data. Through a multi-disciplinary perspective, nourished by the findings of the qualitative research and relying on economic tools – both theoretical and empirical – this project will allow to build the first comprehensive investigation of the diasporas – conflict nexus.

With Southern Europe suffering deeply from the financial crisis, a renewed public discussion on emigration from this region has emerged. The European South, which had only recently become a destination for immigration, seems to be experiencing a new major emigration wave. This is especially true for Greece, the country which has been hit hardest by the economic crisis and concomitant austerity measures. Despite public attention on the matter, however, little is known about who is emigrating, what alternative mobility strategies are considered and pursued, or the reasons underling migration decisions. EUMIGRE will provide an answer to these questions by introducing an innovative mixed methods approach. This approach allows identifying and studying a sizeable and diverse group of young adults whose spatial and social trajectories are retrospectively traced to explore the influence of the current crisis on their strategies. In so doing, it will also contribute to migration theory at a period when space-time flexibilizations, processes of neoliberalization, and the economic crisis are changing established modalities of and motivations for migration in ways that render the emigration–immigration country distinction obsolete.

The present report provides an in-depth assessment of integration policies and outcomes in the case of Greece by specifically bringing into focus the needs of three migrant groups who for various reasons are commonly considered to be especially vulnerable: women, children and victims of trafficking (VoTs). Do the migrant integration policies and programmes in Greece meet the specific integration needs of these three vulnerable migrant groups? In addressing this question, the present report describes and evaluates both a) the general national framework for the integration of migrants and the extent to which existing legal provisions and policy frames acknowledge and take into account the specific needs and conditions of these especially vulnerable immigrant subgroups, and b) the extent to which the application and implementation of existing laws, policies and practices promote a degree of integration of migrant women, children and VoTs in Greece, on the basis of measurable indicators. The assessment of integration outcomes focuses on collecting quantitative (statistical) data about the levels of integration of each of the three vulnerable migrant groups in comparison to the following groups: migrant women in comparison to migrant men; migrant women in comparison to women in the total population (native women); migrant children in comparison to children in the general population (native children).

"Theoretical background and objectives Since the late Summer of 2015 Germany has experienced what is now already one of the largest immigration waves in its history, which moreover is occurring suddenly and within an unprecedentedly short span of time. Dynamics of public opinion on the topic have likewise been volatile, from initial hostile outbursts of anti-refugee collective action, to a massive wave of solidarity and support for refugees, and what seems to be a strong bifurcation of opinions later on. This project aims to investigate these dynamics while they are happening by fielding a survey on attitudes towards and social contacts with refugees, as well as on participation in pro-refugee or anti-refugee collective action. To get a handle on the mechanisms that drive opinions towards refugees, the survey includes several experiments. In a vignette experiment we measure how support for the granting of refugee status to an applicant depends on his or her profile, randomly varying reasons for seeking refuge in Germany (political persecution or economic hardship), religion (Muslim or Christian), level of education, and gender. By way of an authority support experiment we will be able to investigate to what extent support for pro- and anti-refugee statements depends on their endorsement by politicians of different political affiliations. The data allow to link respondents' attitudes to context variables, e.g. the ethnic composition of their community. The survey went into field in early November 2015. A second wave was done in summer 2016. Findings Results of the first wave showed an overall positive attitude towards granting asylum to refugees. With respect to the refugee profiles that were tested in the vignette experiment, the reason for seeking refuge (political persecution vs. economic hardship) was most decisive. The results are summarized in the WZB Mitteilungen No. 151, pp. 24-27. Furthermore, the current research tests how people's political attitudes are influenced by political elites when traditional party lines are blurred. In a representative sample of Germans, we assessed support for restrictive and lenient proposals regarding refugee admission in two experiments. For both statements, we find that citizens decrease their support when it is endorsed by political parties in a stereotypical fashion: conservative endorsement of a restrictive statement in Experiment 1 (marginally significant) and liberal endorsement of a lenient statement in Experiment 2 (significant). This suggests backlash to political elites who attempt to polarize. "