The CDU/CSU, the main opposition parties, have nominated Edmund Stoiber (CSU) as their candidate for chancellor and also announced their plan to raise immigration issues in the upcoming election campaign. Apparently, the prospects for reaching an all-party compromise on immigration reform in the near future have deteriorated. Attempts by Mr. Schily to reach a compromise in two rounds of talks with other parliamentary parties have so far not succeeded in altering the CSU"s blunt rejection of the government"s immigration bill; the CDU, too, has stated that the chances of reaching a compromise continue to be slim. Moreover, the PDS has announced that it will only vote for the bill in the Bundesrat (the upper house of the German parliament) if several proposals of the bill are altered. Consequently, some representatives of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP have called for including the PDS in all-party talks on immigration reform.

Mr. Hundt, president of the Association of German Employers, and Mr. Schulte, chairman of the DGB (Association of German Trade Unions), have suggested that the demand for temporary labour migration should not be determined, as proposed in the bill, by regional job centres, but according to uniform regulations for the whole of Germany. At a hearing of the Interior Policy Committee of the Bundestag, the lower house of German parliament, experts have backed these proposals. They have also expressed their general support for the government bill, notwithstanding their criticism of proposals on integration, which have been called insufficient. CDU/CSU representatives have repeatedly criticised that several aspects of integration policy lack clarification, in particular the necessary scope of public expenditure and its distribution.
FR 12.01.02 // SZ 12.01.02 // FR 16.01.02 // FAZ 17.01.02 // FR 21.01.02 // FR 24.01.02 // FAZ 25.01.02 // SZ 26.01.02 // SZ 30.01.02

Federal Constitutional court allows slaughtering according to Muslim rites

The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of a Turkish butcher from Hesse, who has argued that, under the German constitution, he should be granted a special permission for slaughtering animals according to Muslim rites. As German animal welfare laws ban this form of slaughter, where animals are killed without being stunned beforehand, the practice is only allowed for religious associations who strictly forbid their members to eat meat of animals that have been slaughtered in any other way. Up to now, this permission has only been granted to Jews. Following the unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, Muslim religious associations will in future also be granted this special permission. Referring to the principles of religious and vocational freedom enshrined in the German Constitution, the court has rescinded a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court from 1995, which had generally banned the slaughter of animals according to Muslim rites. The Central Council of Muslims has welcomed the ruling as an important contribution to integration.
SZ 15.01.02 // FAZ 16.01.02 // FAZ 18.01.02 // FAZ 24.01.02

Berlin District Court bans screen searches

The Berlin District Court has ruled in favour of three non-German university students, who had appealed against screen searches for terrorist suspects with an Islamist background. The court has stated that these investigations are not legally justified: In the court"s opinion, there is no specific indication that Germany is in immediate danger of being targeted by terrorist attacks, consequently there is no justification for screening the approximately 1,000 Muslim students living in Berlin. In Hesse, too, the District Court of Appeal in Frankfurt has ruled in favour of a Sudanese student who had been affected by screen searches. In other German states, similar appeals have so far been rejected. In the whole of Germany, police investigators have so far screened 20,017 men. Following screen searches in Hamburg, police forces there have interviewed 140 persons in order to obtain information concerning accomplices of the terrorists responsible for the attacks of September 11.
dpa 22.01.02 // FAZ 22.01.02// FR 23.01.02 // Focus 28.01.02

23,000 non-Germans have been deported in 2001

In response to a parliamentary enquiry by the PDS parliamentary party, the government has reported that a total of 23,459 non-Germans have been deported from Germany by air in the first eleven months of 2001. The largest group of the deportees were expelled to Turkey (3,467 persons), followed by Yugoslavia (2,902 persons), the Ukraine (1,982 persons), Romania (1,574 persons) and Bulgaria (1,141 persons). In the case of nationals of Algeria and Yugoslavia, deportees have been accompanied by security personnel from their home countries. In 416 cases, the deportation was suspended due to resistance of the persons concerned.
Dünya 18.01.02 // Deutscher Bundestag: printed matter 14/7951, 03.01.02

Asylum statistics

In January 2002, a total of 7,762 persons submitted a petition for political asylum in Germany, compared to 5,576 persons in December 2001. Compared to January 2001 (7,583), respective figures have increased by 2.4%. Applicants" main countries of origin continue to be Iraq, Turkey and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees (BAFl) has passed decisions on 10,849 applications in January, recognising 2.2% as entitled to political asylum, and 6.9% as protected against deportation under 51 par.1 Foreigners Act. 65.1% of all applications have been rejected.
statement BMI 06.02.02

	Sunday, November 24, 2024
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