Migrants in an Irregular Situation in the Federal Republic of Germany. The psycho‐social Situation of unaccompanied Minors from Areas of armed Conflict in Berlin, West.
| Date | 01 April 1983 |
| Author | Peter Bethlenfalvy |
| Published date | 01 April 1983 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1983.tb00460.x |
Migrants in an Irregular Situation
in
the
Federal Republic
of
Germany.
me psycho-social Situation
of
unaccompanied Minors
from
Areas
of
armed Conflict
in
Berlin, West.
BY PETER
VON
BETHLENFALVY*
Introductory Note
The phenomenon of undocumented migrants or migrants in an irregular situation has
to be seen within the context of the general movements of populatfon during the past
three decades. One of the main reasons for the occurrence of this phenomenon appears
to
be
-
as
Mr.
Biihning,
one of the speakers at the present seminar, has already stated
-
the lack
of
explicit policies
or
administrative capabilities
as well as the
incompatible
laws and regulations existing in the host country
or in the country offering asylum. In
this respect Europe
-
here, those states which traditionally admit refugees and
migrants and other categories of aliens are meant
-
seems to have quite advanced
standards despite various circumstantial differences if one compares them with other
regions.
Roughly speaking, there are two significant periods to be discerned in the develop-
ment and proliferation of migration policies in Europe; that before
1973
and that after
1973.
As a result of the
1973
oil crisis, the inflow of manpower from southern and
south-eastern Europe and from North Africa and the Near East to the industrialized
countries
of
western and northern Eurgpe has seemingly decreased. Alien regulations,
laws and policies had been reconsidered by many states in Europe. However, it would
be totally wrong to regard the phenomenon of large-scale migration today solely in
terms
of
the in- and outflow of manpower specially in the view of the increasing
problem of migrants in irregular situations. Everybody who has read Prince
Sadruddin
Aga Khan’s
study on ‘Human Rights and Massive Exoduses’ may realize the serious
complexity of the problem involved.
Various kinds of human rights violations, various kinds of problems facing
outflow
countries or regions and various kinds of problems experienced by
inflow
countries
may form the root causes of large-scale population movements or mass exodus.
*
The author wishes to express his thanks
to
MI.
A. Abul-Ella,
Director of the Al-Muntada-Centre,
MIS.
Abul-Ella,
MI.
H.
Kieburg,
Chief
of
Project Studies, Director
Oberlander, Diakonisches
Werk,
Berlin,
as
well as the
Federal Ministry
of
Youth, Family and Health
and the
Federal Ministry
of
the
Interior
in
Bonn
for their ceoperative assistance and valuable contributions.
238
Continual social injustice, poverty resulting from wars, political conflicts or poor
economies, large-scale political or religious persecution, civil war, lack of job op-
portunities, low educational and social standards, natural disasters or overpopulation
on the ‘edge of disaster
-
all these reasons are strong motivations for man to seek a
better human existence in countries or regions where problems of that kind either do
not exist or where they have been coped with relatively well.
In the aftermath
of
the Second World War, the Federal Republic of Germany had
to
face an unprecedented inflow of people coming from eastern Europe. Their
integration was mastered with some degree
of
success due mainly to the well-
developed administrative and legal system on the one hand and the religious and
cultural affinities with the people settling in the FRG at that time, on the other. Here,
I
would like to draw attention to and quote the paper of my distinguished colleague
Professor
Kraus,
who at the last moment was unable to attend this important seminar.
The scene has,
of
course, begun
to
change in the time since the
1960’s
and since the
mid-1970’s
when the aliens seeking residence in the FRG began to come from
different social strata and partly lacked the adaptability
of
those coming from eastern
Europe, This situation has been further complicated by differences in religion and
habits.
Furthermore, the interrelation between the more restrictive official policies in the
FRG towards the recruitment of migrant workers since the mid-1970’s and the rapid
increase in the number of asylum seekers coming from the traditional native countries
of
migrant workers become obvious. Although the number of asylum seekers at any
one time in the FRG is relatively low in comparison with the overall numbers of aliens,
the problem remains. In
1982
there were in the
FRG
4,666,917,
including aliens from
EC countries. By the end of
1982,
there were
41,857
‘Convention’ refugees living in
the FRG. The total number of asylum seekers at the end of the same period was
149,200.
The following chart* may be taken as an illustration.
Asylum
Seekers
Year Total Eastern Non-European
1976 11,123 1,843 9,280
1977 16,410 2,178 14,232
1978 33,136 3,127 30,009
1979 5 1,493 3,887 47,606
1980 107,818 6,943 100,875
1981 49,391 14,257 35,134
1982 37,423 11,544 25,879
Europe Countries
*
Federal Bureau for Recognition of Refugees, Zirndorf,
1982.
239
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