ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - There is a large wage gap between native Germans and those with immigrant backgrounds, according to a Kurdish researcher who urged people to stand up for their right to fair pay.
“Currently, we estimate that the pay gap between native Germans and people with an immigrant background is approximately 70 percent, solely based on their immigrant background,” Agid Pozdemir, head of the Mosaic Organization in Germany, told Rudaw’s Diaspora programme that aired on Friday.
This estimate is based on Pozdemir's extensive research, but has not been independently verified.
Immigrants in high-income countries tend to have more precarious employment and earn about 13 percent less than native workers in high-income countries, according to the International Labour Organization, though that gap is as much as 42 percent in some countries.
When discussing the wage gap with native Germans, immigrants often face prejudice or racism, according to Pozdemir who said it is essential to stand up for the right to fair pay.
Receiving equal pay “is your right, and you have to fight for it and actively pursue it,” he said.
The gap is even wider for women, according to Pozdemir. “This creates a particularly disheartening situation for women with an immigrant background. We must fight and continue to discuss these injustices,” he said.
According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, people with an immigrant background are more likely to work in low-skilled jobs - 68 percent of construction workers, 46 percent of bus and tram drivers, 51 percent of agricultural workers are not of German origin.
Data suggests that even when an individual with an immigrant background holds a high-ranking position, their salary is not necessarily equivalent to that of a native German individual in a similar role.
Germany hosts one of the largest refugee populations worldwide. In late January, the German parliament passed a motion that tightened migration rules. It contains five points: preventing illegal immigration, deporting illegal immigrants, deporting foreign criminals, imprisoning immigrants who must leave Germany, and ending family reunification.
Tens of thousands of mostly young people leave Iraq and the Kurdistan Region for Europe annually in search of a better life, using smuggling routes. Many hope to settle in Germany.
