Discrimination in Germany: A Call for Minority Rights
| Author | Miriam J. Aukerman |
| Published date | 01 September 1995 |
| Date | 01 September 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934419501300303 |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
Discrimination in Germany: A Call for Minority Rights
Miriam J. Aukerman'
Abstract
German society is confronted with, but has yet to come to terms with, two important
social facts. In the first place, Germany is a polycultural society, even if it refuses to
recognize itself as such. Second, people
of
different cultures within Germany are
not
treated equally; instead there is widespread, systematic discrimination
of
non-dominant
groups, on both the legal
and
the social level. This paper will argue, first, that the
current situation is untenable, and then evaluate the applicability
of
what I will call, on
one hand, the Anglo-American model and, .on the other, the Eastern European model
for
protecting the rights
of
minorities in Germany.
I The Language of the Debate
Both immigration and discrimination are a reality in the Federal Republic of Germany,
yet both issues are taboo. Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl represents a wide-spread view
when he refuses to term Germany an Einwanderungsland, or 'country of immigration'. 1
Yet Germany, as one would suspect from its geographical location, has in fact absorbed
and largely assimilated considerable numbers of immigrants in its past, despite the myth
that Germany was ethnically homogenous until the post-war arrival of Gastarbeiter (guest
workers) in the West and the much smaller number of Vertragsarbeitnehmer (contract
workers) in the East. By 1994, Germany had a foreigner population of almost seven
million, or 8.5 percent of the population, ninety-seven percent of whom live in the old
federal states and Berlin.' These numbers do not include those persons who are
commonly called and treated as 'auslander' (foreigners), because of their skin colour or
foreign heritage, but who nevertheless have German citizenship.'
If
one includes as
Presently consultant to the Russia and Eastern Europe Program of the Ford Foundation. This article was
prepared while the author was working on the staff of
A1muth
Berger, Ausliinderbeauftragte of the state
of Brandenburg, as a fellow of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. I wish toexpress my thanks toAlmuth Berger
and her staff, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and Reiner Kneifcl-Haverkamp. The views expressed here are
mine alone.
Gerd Andres. 'Einwanderungsland Deutschland: Bisherige Auslander- und Asylpolitik - Lebenssituation
der ausliindischen Arbeitnehmer und ihrer Familien.'in Einwanderungsland Deutschland: Bisherige
Auslander- und Asylpolitik, Vergleich mit anderen europiiischen Liindern, Forschungsinstitut der Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung, Abt. Arbeits- und Sozialforschung, 1992, p.
II.
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, 'Germany for Germans': Xenophobia and Racist Violence in Germany,
Human Rights Watch, New York, April 1995, p. 12. The largest foreigner groups are: Turkish nationals
(nearly two million), nationals of the former Yugoslavia (nearly one million), Italian nationals (half a
million), and Greek nationals (350,000).
Because the term 'ausliinder' is so confused, I will use it in quotes. While it technically refers to all
persons of foreign citizenship, it is more commonly usedto describe Gastarbeiter, Vertragsarbeitnehmer
and refugees, not aliens from countries such as the United States or Japan, regardless of the length or
purpose of their residence in Germany. Since many 'ausldnder' have lived in Germany for many years,
or were born there, they sometimes consider themselves Inlanderwith foreign citizenship. While the term
'ausiander' for statistical and legal purposes refers only to those with foreign citizenship, in common
parlance it also includes German citizens of a different ethnic origin. Such persons suffer under many of
the same forms of discrimination as their foreign counterparts.
237
NQHR 3
/i995
immigrants ethnic German refugees and expellees who fled from Eastern Europe and,
before 1989, the German Democratic Republic, scholars estimate that approximately one-
quarter to one-third
of
the Federal Republic's current population are immigrants.'
The original assumption, that Gastarbeiter were a temporary addition to the labor
market in certain important areas (such as mining, steel, foundries, textiles, and the
service industry) and would return home after several years, is no longer valid. But the
Ruckkehrillusion; or 'illusion of the return to the country of origin', prevents a positive
confrontation of the actual situation,
notonly
for Germans but for 'auslander' as well.'
Sixty percent of 'ausldnder' have lived in Germany for ten years or more, and twenty-
five percent for over twenty years. FOf persons from the traditional recruiting countries
(Anwerbeldndery, the numbers are even higher: 66% of Turks, 72 % ofltalians, 76% of
persons from the former Yugoslavia and 87% of Spaniards have lived in the Federal
Republic for 'ten years or more.' Furthermore, approximately seventy percent of foreign
youth were born in Germany.7One-quarter of all 'auslander' are nationals of European
Union States, and, under EU law, have the right to work and reside in Germany." Even
conservatives, like Kanzler Kohl, who have in the past exploited anti-foreigner sentiment
with comments about the need to reduce the number of foreign Mitburger (neighbours),"
and who continue to describe these persons as Zugewanderte rather than Eingewanderte
- 'those who have
come',
as opposed to 'those who have immigrated' - now admit that
the former guest workers
gehoren
zu uns (belong as part of
US).l0
While such statements
implicitly recognize the permanent' resettlement of the former Gastarbeiter, the, term
Einwanderung (immigration) nonetheless remains taboo. Legislation recognizing this de
facto immigration, such as more liberal citizenship legislation or general immigration
legislation which would provide a routine method for foreigners to become permanent
residents and ultimately citizens, has yet to be passed. Despite thc fact that Germany has
the highest levels
of
inward-migration of any major European country,11 it has the
10
11
238
Douglas B. Klusmeyer, 'Aliens, Immigrants and Citizens: The Politics oflnclusion in the Federal Republic
of Germany', Daedalus, Vol. 122,
No.3,
Summer 1993, p. 106; Klaus J. Bade, 'Immigration and Social
Peace in United Germany', Daedalus, Vol. 123,
No.1,
Winter 1994, p. 89.
Andres, loc.cit. (note I), p. 34.
Beauftragte der Bundesregierung fiir die Belangeder Auslander, Datenund Fakten zur Ausldndersituation,
13. Auflage, 1992, p. 9.
Andres, loc.cit, (note 1), p. 28.
ibidem, p. 7.
Klusmeyer, loc.cit. (note 4), p. 92.
Helmut Kohl, 'Migration und Minderheitenschutz in Europa', Bulletin 85, Presse und Informationsamt der
Bundesregierung, 13 October 1993, p. 970.
The former West German states have acceptedmore 'immigrants' since 1989 than any other European
country, and, in terms of absolute legal numbers, more than the United States. This statistic does not
account for the considerable illegal immigration into the United States across the U.S.-Mexican border.
Contrary to popular perception in Germany, however, politicalrefugees and asylum seekers made up only
twenty percent of this inflow. Aussiedler (ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
Union) and Ubersiedler (Germans relocating from Western to Eastern Germany) were by far the majority.
While the circumstances of unification were clearly unusual, experts agree that migration to Germany will
remain high. Sec: Axel Schulte, 'Multikulturelle Gesellschaft: Zum Inhalt und Funktion eines vieldeutigen
Begriffs', in Multikulturelle Gesellschaft: Del' Weg zwischen Ausgrenzung und Yereinnahmung i,
Forschungsinstitut der Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Abt. Arbeits- und Sozialforsehung, 1991, p. 32; Dietrich
Thranhardt, 'EinZuwanderungskonzept fur Deutschland amEnde des Jahrhunderts' , in Einwanderungsland
Deutschland; Bisherige Auslander- und. Asylpolitik Vergleich mit anderen europiiischen Liindem,
Forschungsinstitut
der
friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Abt. Arbeits- und Sozialforschung, 1992, p. 128-129.
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