efms Migration Report
June 1995 | | | | |
Repatriation negotiations with Algeria The federal ministry of the interor is conducting talks with Algeria on repatriating rejected Algerian asylum seekers. Acccording to assessments made by Pro Asyl, about 4,000 Algerians would be directly affected. This number does not include 3,000 to 4,000 Algerians currently waiting for decisions on their asylum petitions. In view of the violent conflicts in Algeria, and the fact that the lives of returning refugees are threatened, Pro Asyl rejects the planned agreement and calls on the federal government to abandon negotiations.
FR 7.6.95
Difficulties in repatriation negotiations with Vietnam Negotiations on the repatriation of some 40,000 Vietnamese to their native land, and the payment of 100 million marks in aid to Vietnam, which were to be concluded at the beginning of the year, have not yet yielded positive results. Talks faltered when Vietnam made further financial demands and refused to repatriate deportees whose Vietnamese nationality is dubious. While German authorities are anxious to begin deporting Vietnamese offenders (e.g. cigarette-mafia of Berlin), experts consider plans
to
repatriate 20,000 persons in the next 3 years to be unrealistic. Refugee organisations have urged caution over too hasty deportations, as the question of human rights has not been adequately clarified in the contract. FR 9.6.95 // Welt 7.6.95
Ban on deportation of Kurds expires As of June 6, 1995 Kurdish refugee problems will be settled in uniform fashion and thus the general ban on deportation will be terminated. The foreign authorities of the Laender will make their decisions on a case-by-case basis. The Turkish human rights association has criticized the decision, as Kurdish refugees face torture in Turkey. Hessen has proclaimed a new ban on deportation for Kurds. FAZ 10.6.95 // FAZ 13.6.95 // SZ 14.6.95
Government defends asylum law before the constitional court The cabinet wishes to formally take part, as an affected party, in the legal proceedings concerning the constitutionality of the asylum law to be conducted in Karlsruhe. The government wishes to counteract efforts to undermine the law which came into effect in July 1993. The appeal refers to the regulations concerning airports and safe third countries. FAZ 22.6.95 // SZ 22.6.95 // Welt 22.6.95
Progress Report on asylum in 1994 Assessing asylum developments for the past year, the federal minister of the interior, Kanther sees positive results: the reduction of the number of aslyum seekers since 1992 by 70%, the larger number of approvals of politically persecuted persons, the decreases in alien criminality and hostile and violent acts against foreigners, and success in the fight against illegal entries over the eastern borders. FAZ 22.6.95 // SZ 22.6.95 // Welt 22.6.95
Protection against cheap foreign labor in the construction sector The coalition parties in Bonn have come to an agreement on regulations to protect construction workers against cheap competitors from abroad. Foreign construction workers must be paid according to German rates. However, the regulations are valid only for 2 years and are confined to the lowest wage-level group. An attempt to impose such guidelines through the European Union failed. SZ 28.6.95 // SZ 30.6.95
Police-raid on German-Polish border In a concerted action of the German border control, the foreign office and the office of employment, 250 to 300 Poles were detained in the border town Frankfurt on the Oder for several hours before being deported. The Poles were suspected of being illegally employed. Due to Poland"s protests at the German foreign ministry against the mistreatment of Polish citizens, the deportations were revoked. The incident has placed a strain on German-Polish relations. FR 28.6.95 // dpa 29.6.95 // Spiegel
3.7.95
German pensioners abroad In 1993 some 95,700 Germans had their pensions transferred to foreign countries. About 17,000 retired Germans live in the USA, while 14,100 Germans chose Austria as their retirement residence. SZ 27.6.95
Aussiedler statistics In the month of June 18,000 Aussiedler (immigrants of German extraction) came to Germany; 17,273 came from the former Soviet Union, 519 from Romania and 94 from Poland. In 1994 the number of Aussiedler from eastern Europe numbered 222,440, which was somewhat higher than the 218,125 of the previous year. In the statistics on unemployment 158,000 Aussiedler were listed as being without work at the end of 1994. The preferred places of residence were Nordrhein-Westfalen (47,631), Bavaria (32,389), and Saxony
(17,173). The federal government regrets the Aussiedlers" unwillingness to settle in the new Laender of eastern Germany. SZ 27.6.95 // SZ 3.7.95
Asylum statistics In the first half-year of 1995 the number of asylum seekers decreased slightly in comparison to the year before. By the end of June 58,669 persons had applied for asylum, which was 4,133 or 6,6% less than in 1994. The largest group of refugees came from Turkey (13,209) followed by Serbia and Montenegro (10,834) Afghanistan (3,316) Bosnia-Herzegovina (2,897), Sri Lanka (2,676), Irak (2,406) Romania (1,811) Iran (1,756) Pakistan (1,490) and Armenia (1,438). The rate of acceptance was 9,4% (10,552) with a further 2,5% (2,750 persons
receiving deportation protection. 59,5% of the petitions were rejected. SZ 6.7.95 // FAZ 6.7.95
June 1995 | | | | |
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