Rede der Bundesentwicklungsministerin Reem Alabali Radovan anlässlich des Launch der „New Initiative on Migration“ der Hertie School und der Gere Foundation

4. Juni 2026 Rede der Bundesentwicklungsministerin Reem Alabali Radovan anlässlich des Launch der "New Initiative on Migration" der Hertie School und der Gere Foundation

Es gilt das gesprochene Wort

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thirty thousand. That is the number of people who have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea since 2015. This is the number that we know about and I think all of us can be sure that the actual number is probably far higher.

Thirty thousand people who are missed by their parents, children or partners. If we decided to observe a minute's silence for one of them every day, it would take us more than eighty years.

For me it's clear: This needless loss of life has to stop. And it has to stop now.

We have to make sure - as Europeans together with our partners in Africa - that no more people die in the Mediterranean Sea. This has to be the first goal.

The question for us is: How do we achieve this? How do we achieve this at a time when the public discourse on displacement and migration is increasingly hostile and polarized, making it very difficult to find sustainable solutions?

Back in 2015, in most European countries - and I'm sure all of you remember it -, there was a political will to give protection to people who were fleeing for their lives from war and conflict. There was a political will to grant them the right to asylum that they are entitled to. There was a debate about how to achieve successful integration for everyone's benefit.

As we all know, looking back at this time, this has changed. The zeitgeist has changed. Today, the political debate tends to know only one direction: more containment. More national interests, even new walls. More "easy answers".

And less interest in dealing with displacement in all its complexity. In addressing what makes people flee in the first place. And in making sure that they receive protection when they flee.

That is why your New Initiative on Migration comes at the right time. You aim to set a different tone: Evidence-based. Values-oriented. Taking a comprehensive view of displacement and migration that starts in the countries of origin. And centred on those who are too often treated as objects rather than subjects in this debate: the refugees and migrants themselves.

I welcome this initiative by the Hertie School and the Gere Foundation. We need more of this kind of critical analysis and open discourse with all stakeholders - now more than ever.

Because today, there are more than 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. That number rises to a new record almost every year.

And they are being displaced for increasingly long periods - often for many years and what hurts me the most for many generations. We see generations of people in displacement camps.

So, we are not talking about a short-term phenomenon. These are structural realities and they require systemic responses.

In Europe, we tend to forget that most of the world's refugees are living in their own countries or in the countries close by. No one wants to go far away from home.

Three out of four displaced people remain in their region, they are not in Europe. Countries like Kenya and Chad, Lebanon and Jordan are making extraordinary efforts to host large numbers of displaced people with very limited financial resources.

Just think about Lebanon, which is already hosting one of the largest numbers of refugees in the world, and now has to support additional one million people displaced within their own country due to the war.

Through development cooperation, Germany supports countries where people are displaced and those hosting them.

Together with our partners we support local structures - from building drinking water systems in refugee camps to bringing conflicting parties round the table before conflicts escalate.

Our goal is to strengthen host communities so that they can provide dignified support to displaced people. Because they need protection and prospects.

To me, this is a question of humanity.

And it also makes good political sense. Because deterrence does not reduce displacement.

To make sure that people don't have to flee - to actually reduce forced displacement - we need investments in education, in local services, and in functioning governance structures. We need to work together internationally with countries of origin and with host countries.

Let me just give you two examples.

I visited Ethiopia last December. Ethiopia has become one of the biggest host countries for refugees in Africa. Germany supports Ethiopia, for example with a joint project that improves access to the labour market both for refugees and for vulnerable persons in host communities. So for us, it's not just about supporting countries in taking in refugees, but also about supporting them in having prospects in life.

This is one example, another example is Jordan, where we support the provision of drinking water for refugees and host communities in a region affected by severe drought. This helps secure basic living conditions and prevents conflicts between locals and refugees.

Strengthening stability in this way, be it in Ethiopia or in Jordan, is in our shared interest.

This brings us to an important point: the growing misconception in the current debate, which frames migration as a threat that must be stopped.

Instead, migration should be considered as what it is: a reality that - if well managed - also brings many positive effects.

A reality that we can shape - to make it work best for the countries of origin, the host countries, and the migrants.

The negative narrative that currently dominates the public discourse is very counterproductive. It prevents us from gaining a complete picture.

But we need the complete picture in order to formulate effective and human policies.

To get a complete picture, to make good policies, we also have to understand why people decide to flee.

These decisions are often reduced to three simple parameters: so-called Pull factors, Push factors and measures to deter. This assumes that, by simply adjusting the right one or two levers, the "problem", as it is referred to, will be solved.

But this picture is too simple and it is also incomplete. And what is worse, it leads to incomplete policies.

That is why research to gain a greater understanding of migration decisions is so important - which is what you will be doing through your initiative.

The decision to leave your home is complex. And it is never an irrational one. To use the words of British author Warsan Shire: "No one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land".

If people find themselves in an unbearable situation, no wall and no border controls will deter them from trying to find a better life.

What is required is clear: People need to be able to see a future in the place where they live. Opportunities that make it worth staying for them and for their children. This is what we have to work on; with development policy playing a vital part.

And it requires legal pathways. To undermine the business model of organized crime and smugglers. To provide legal options for people who are fleeing crisis or conflict.

Ladies and gentleman,

we need to have the complete picture. That is the only way to find better and more humane responses to migration and displacement.

That is why I welcome your initiative.

In times where the public discourse is shifting towards demonizing refugees - making them scapegoats for the uncertainties of our times - fresh thinking and dialogue between all stakeholders is required.

I hope this initiative will generate knowledge that helps us to identify concrete courses of action. Courses of action that do not simply react to the symptoms of forced migration but that change the structures. To make sure that people are not forced to flee - but have the opportunity to build a future for themselves.

Thank you very much.