4 - 2002
New immigration policies
Germany – a country which accepts immigrants
by Wolfgang Thierse
In Germany there are 7.4 million foreigners, or citizens of foreign origin, many already of the second or third generation. It is highly problematic to go on calling these people foreigners. Many were born in Germany, grew up here, are working, going to school or studying here, and without doubt they are part of our society.
The reform of the citizenship laws was a long overdue step towards the recognition of this simple fact. Returning emigrants who obtain German citizenship automatically are also migrants and have to find their places in our society. After denying and ignoring it for decades, we have finally reached a consensus that Germany is a country which accepts immigrants and that we have to draw conclusions from this.
One consequence is that we are working out an overall concept which covers those who have a legal right to immigrate and also considers the economic, demographic and humanitarian reasons for immigration. The basic right to asylum is not at our disposition. People who face political persecution must continue to be received and protected in Germany.
The articles in this volume make it clear that we have to do much more towards the integration of foreigners living in Germany, and for the immigrants who will arrive in the future. The question arises, how can integration succeed, and to what degree can and should people be assimilated? In answering this question, we are in agreement on several important points.
No one has to deny his or her cultural heritage in order to live here. However, each must accept the basic values of our constitution and be willing to play by our democratic rules. It is also decidedly necessary that people who want to live here learn the German language. We must increase language course offerings and do everything we can to improve language skills, especially among youth, because without an adequate knowledge of the German language they cannot succeed either in school or in a career. Without integration into work, they will not become integrated into the society either.
As a society which receives immigrants, we ourselves have to learn that cultural diversity in Germany is not temporary, but rather has become the normal situation. We must not suppress the problems which arise or put them aside as marginal phenomena. The shocking increase in xenophobia and right-wing extremism has brought us face to face with the urgency of sorting out ways for different cultures to live together in the long term. We are all aware that this living together in the same society cannot be free of conflict. We have to develop ways of resolving conflicts which do not lead to increased withdrawal from contact on one side or mechanisms of exclusion on the other. We need a climate in Germany in which immigrants are not marginalised, but rather seen as an integral part of our common life.
Wolfgang Thierse was president of the last German Bundestag (lower house of Parliament), and was re-elected to this high office in October 2002. This article is the foreword to the book Einwanderungsland Deutschland. Neue Wege nachhaltiger Integration (Germany as a country that accepts immigrants. New ways towards lasting integration) edited by Ursula Mehrländer and Günter Schultze, J.H.W. Dietz Successors, Publishers, Bonn 2001.