More than a million refugees arrived in Germany last year, fleeing war and persecution in their home countries.
One place they're finding jobs is at the country's many volunteer fire departments, which have struggled in recent years to find new recruits.
Ira Spitzer reports.
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VO#1 - Refugee Carine Tcholita from Cameroon is making sure that her fire truck is in good working order. It's part of her training as a volunteer firefighter, a job she signed up for not long after arriving in Germany a year ago. She says has it has helped smooth the transition to life in the small town of Fuerstenwalde, near the Polish border.
SOT, Carine Stephanie Tcholita, Refugee Firefighter
"Color is not a problem here. Nationality is not a problem here. We are together. The same person, family here."
VO#2 - But getting a job hasn't just been positive for her.Volunteering to work in fire departments is a long-standing tradition for Germans. But in recent years, those departments have struggled with declining numbers. Fuerstenwalde's fire chief Joern Mueller explains.
SOT Joern Mueller, Fire Chief, Fuerstenwalde
"We've been trying for several years to increase the number of recruits for the volunteer fire department. We don't think of them as refugees, we think of them as people. It doesn't matter what nationality they are."
VO#3 - It's estimated that around fifty volunteer fire departments nationwide now include refugees. Integration remains a a controversial issue in this country though. According to a recent poll, just over half of Germans don't believe that refugees will be able to successfully integrate. Felix Krautkraemer of the right wing newspaper Junge Freiheit is one of those who questions Germany's refugee polices.
SOT, Felix Krautkraemer, Online Editor, Junge Freiheit
"The asylum laws are that you give someone protection and asylum while someone is persecuted in their home country. But when the conflict in their country is over, these people should return/So to really integrate them, you have to ask how necessary that is."
VO#5 - Carine's not quite ready to be deployed yet, but says it's not the dangerous work that's holding her back. Her biggest challenge right now is improving her German. But she hopes to be putting out real fires soon, in the country she now calls home. Ira Spitzer, Fuerstenwalde Germany
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