In the Laender Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Hessen, Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, Bosnian civil-war refugees will receive residence rights limited to one year. Up to now the refugees were merely tolerated for six-month periods after which they had to reapply for residence. The new permit is contingent on several conditions: refugees must have resided in the Land for at least 12 months; they must possess a valid passport and earn their own livelihood.
dpa 22.6.95 // FR 4.7.95 // FR 5.7.95 // FAZ 12.7.95 // FR 13.7.95

Criminal statistics: fewer asylum seekers and fewer criminal acts

The Federal Minister of the Interior Kanther attributes the decline in criminality to the reduced number of asylum seekers. He considers the link especially clear in the drop in thefts which are allegedly high among asylum seekers. While Kanther emphasizes the decrease in acts of violence against foreigners, and the absence of deaths due to racist violence in 1994, the National Office of Criminal Investigation questions the validity of the statistics since police reporting, especially of extreme-right violence, is extremely fragmentary.
SZ 13.7.95 // taz 21.7.95

Bavarian policy on asylum: proposal of a church quota

The Bavarian government, until now consistently opposed to church asylum for rejected asylum seekers, now favors the introduction of a "church quota" which could provide the means to avoid deportation in hardship cases. The church, however, would have to assume the complete costs of taking care of the refugees. The Bavarian interior minister"s proposal has met with varied reactions. The churches themselves, along with Amnesty International, reject the proposal because they consider the protection of refugees to be the responsibility of the state. The government, they argue, does not have the right to withdraw from its obligations. The realization that the existing asylum law leaves too little scope for humanitarian decisions should prompt the government to modify asylum legislation.
dpa 11.7.95 // FAZ 14.7.95 // Spiegel 17.7.95 // Zeit 21.7.95

Establishment of a Turkish party

The founding committee of the "Democratic Party of Germany" will hold its official founding assembly in October in Berlin. The party, which will represent the interests of Turks living in Germany, aims to participate in Bundestag elections. In order for the party to be recognized, the majority of board members must have German citizenship. The deputy chairman of the FDP, Brüderle fears that the formation of alien political parties may result in transferring conflicts between foreign groups to German politics and jeopardizing the integration of aliens.
dpa 11.7.95 // dpa 12.7.95

Court verdict against deportation-detainment

The administrative court at Greifswald has found that the Berlin police, which is responsible for expelling aliens, does not have a sufficient legal basis for keeping rejected asylum seekers in custody.
dpa 17.7.95

Baden-Württemberg: Civil rights for EU foreigners

The law which grants EUcitizens living in Baden Württemberg the right to vote in local elections and the right to be elected to local office will take effect within the present year.
SZ 19.7.95 // FAZ 20.7.95

Minister of Justice suggests extending electoral rights for EU foreigners

The minister of justice, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) calls for extending the rights of EU citizens to vote and to be elected as local representatives. She proposes to include the right to assume elective positions such as member of town councils or mayor. The CDU/CSU on the other hand is opposed to broadening local electoral rights beyond what is stipulated by the Maastricht Treaty.
FAZ 27.7.95 // SZ 28.7.95

Repatriation agreement signed with Vietnam

After negotiations lasting one year, Germany and Vietnam have signed an agreement to repatriate Vietnamese nationals who are residing in Germany without residence permits. The agreement will become effective in two months. Over the next five years some 40,000 Vietnamese nationals will be deported according to annual quotas. The agreement is contingent on German financial aid payments amounting to 25 million marks. Moreover, Bonn has released 75,000 marks in frozen aid payments. The insufficiency of data protection has led refugee organisations to doubt the sincerity of Vietnam"s assurance that it will not subject returning nationals to criminal persecution.
SZ 22.7.95 // taz 28.7.95

Saxony-Anhalt assists former GDR contract workers

The Land Saxony-Anhalt is attempting to secure permanent residence status for former GDR contract workers from Vietnam, Angola and Mozambique.The land helps find jobs for these workers and offers subsidies both to prospective employers as well as to former contract workers who wish to open businesses.
FR 18.7.95

Debate on the admission of further civil war refugees from Bosnia

Since the escalation of the war in Bosnia is likely to lead to a new wave of refugees, current political discussion revolves around the subject of refugee quotas and their distribution among the Laender. Representatives of the CDU/CSU and Foreign Minister Kinkel have spoken out against admitting further refugees. According to Federal Minister of the Interior Kanther, Germany has fulfilled its duty by accepting 80% of all Bosnian refugees. The federal commissioner for foreigners, Schmalz-Jacobsen supports an equitable distribution of refugees throught Europe. Representatives of the Green Party demand secure refugee status for the Bosnians.
NN 25.7.95 // SZ 26.7.95 // dpa 28.7.95 // SZ 29.3.95

Cuts in social benefits for refugees

In spite of widespread protests, Federal Minister of Health Seehofer refuses to abandon plans to reduce social security payments to asylum seekers and civil war refugees. The cabinet has voted on a law cutting benefits for foreigners, thereby saving an estimated 1,3 billion marks.
SZ 28.7.95

New wave of Kurdish aggression

Security officials hold the PKK responsible for the arsonist attacks on Turkish establishments in several of the Laender. Tensions have risen at demonstrations especially since the death of a Kurdish woman in Berlin who had participated in a hunger strike to protest the persecution of Kurds in Turkey.
dpa 27.7.95 // FR 27.7.95

Hessens ban on deportation of Kurds is illegal

The Hessian administrative court has found that the Land Hessen violated the law by imposing a ban on the deportation of Kurds without the consent of the federal ministry of the interior. The Hessian prime minister has announced that the ban on deportations will be lifted.
SZ 28.7.95

Bavarian minister for the interior criticizes the implementation of the Schengen accords

The Bavarian minister for the interior has criticized the lack of cooperation between the European Union members in implementing the Schengen Accords. He finds fault both with the slowness of the central search computer (SIS) and its data, which mainly originate in Germany. Beckstein further laments the inability of the Schengen partners to come to an agreement on uniform visa regulationsand to impose effective border controls on the perimeter of the EU.
NN 26.7.95 // FAZ 27.7.95

Statistics: decrease in number of deportations

According to a dpa-conducted survey of the Laender interior ministries, the number of aliens expelled from Germany was lower in the first half of 1995 than in the previous year. At the end of June the number of deportations had reached 15,900. Of these, 11,700 were rejected asylum seekers.
SZ 29.7.95

Asylum Statistics

In July 1995 the number of asylum seekers was 10,223 persons. Compared to June there were 1,093 more applications. The largest group of refugees comes from Turkey (1896), followed by former Yugoslavia (1,843 refugees) and Afghanistan (699 refugees). The rate of acceptance was 10% (1410 cases) and further 2,5% (397 persons) received deportation protection. 57,7% of the applications (8,146 cases) were rejected.
BAFl Press Announcement 3.8.95

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