The executive committee of the Saarland CDU has resolved to submit a proposal at the coming national party convention to allow children born to foreigners in Germany to receive German citizenship along with that of their parents. When the children come of age they would choose between the two citizenships. The chairman of the Saarland CDU, Müller, considers the reform of nationality law to be a necessary first step to be followed by regulating immigration through an immigration law.
FAZ 11.9.96 // FR 11.9.96

Repatriation of Bosnian refugees to begin on October 1

The interior ministers of both the federal and Länder governments agreed at their conference on 19 September to a compromise on returning the 320,000 Bosnian refugees currently residing in Germany to their homeland. The return is scheduled to begin on October 1. The flexible, step-by-step plan allows the Länder room for discretion. The first to be affected by the forcible repatriation measures are unmarried individuals and couples without children, to be followed by families with children in the coming summer. Just how the plan will be implemented remains largely unclear. Concerns expressed by UNHCR had some impact on the the plan; marital status and ethnic and regional origin of the refugees will be taken into consideration. The UNHRC, however, is in favour of a purely voluntary return of the refugees to their country of origin.
FAZ 20.9.96 // taz 21.9.96// FR 23.9.96

Bayern: Dispute intensifies over deportation and church asylum

The increased deportations of refugees who had found church asylum have spawned vehement protests against the harsh measures taken by the interior ministry. The Bavarian government is accused of immoderate and inhumane action for forcibly putting an end to church asylum. The SPD and the Green Party have called for solving both hardship cases and long-standing unresolved cases by supplementing the asylum law of 1993 with a quota.
SZ 16.9.96 // SZ 26.9.96

Deportations to Vietnam begin

239 illegal Vietnamese immigrants were flown to Hanoi on a charter flight on September 17, 1996. According to the federal ministry of the interior, this was the first flight to be carried out within the framework of the Repatriation Agreeement with Vietnam. This action is to be followed by further repatriation measures in the near future. Of the 40,000 Vietnamese living illegally in Germany, only 900 persons have been repatriated thus far.
dpa 17.9.96

New dispute over Aussiedler policies

In a new debate between the SPD and the federal government over policies concerning Aussiedler (immigrants of German extraction), the SPD has called for adjusting the admittance rate to the actual opportunities for integration. The government should either increase spending on integration measures or limit Aussiedler immigration. In the opinion of the SPD the present government policies, which include cutting federal funds while retaining the annual quota of 220,000 immigrants of German extraction, are not conducive to social integration.
taz 21.9.96 // SZ 21.9.96

CDU banks on integration of Turks

The CDU attempts with diverse initiatives and events to gain supporters among the Turks living in Germany. According to information of the Bundestag representative Lamers, Turks with German passports will represent a voter potential of 100,000 in the Bundestag election of 1998. Lamers considers it imperative that the government coalition parties soon come to a more unified and open position regarding facilitated naturalization. Improved integration would impede the importing of inner Turkish conflicts onto German soil. Among the measures Lamer considers essential in achieving integration are promoting German language instruction, breaking up ghetto colonies, and improving job opportunities for young Turks as well as encouraging the participation of German Turks in local government.
dpa 22.9.96

Statistics: 3 million aliens worked in Germany in 1995

According to data of the Federal Office of Statistics, approximately 3 million aliens were employed in Germany at the end of April 1995. Of these, 37% were employed in mining and processing industries, 22% in the trade and hotel business, 15% in public and private services and 11% in construction; 8% were self-employed.
SZ 4.9.96

Statistics: fewer acts of hostility towards aliens

The Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) announces that the authorities have recorded a decline in xenophobic offences by rightwing extremists in the first six months of this year. In comparison to the previous year, the number of rightwing offences dropped by 50% (1995 there were a total of 7,896 offences with an extreme rightwing background; in 1994 there were 7,952 such offences). There has also been a distinct reduction in the number of members and activists in rightwing organizations, according to Verfassungsschutz data.
dpa 4.9.96

Statistics: 3.5 million Aussiedler admitted since 1950

According to a survey compiled by the Federal Commissioner for Aussiedler, 3.5 million Eastern Europeans of German extraction have immigrated to Germany since 1950. By the end of 1995 1.3 million Aussiedler from the former Soviet Union had been registered, 420,000 from Romania, and 104,000 from former Czechoslovakia. There were 397,999 immigrants in 1990, making it the year with the highest number of Aussiedler immigration.
SZ 13.9.96

Statistics: decline in Aussiedler applications due to language tests

The number of immigration petitions submitted by Aussiedler from the former Soviet Union in the first eight months of this year has decreased by 40,000 in comparison to the previous year. Commissioner for Aussiedler Waffenschmidt (CDU), who provided these figures, attributes the decline to the introduction of language tests to demonstrate at least minimal knowledge of German. The federal government expects 40,000 participants in the language courses in Russia and Kasachstan to be financed by the German government. Waffenschmidt stated that Germany admitted 200,000 Aussiedler in the past year.
dpa 23.9.96

Asylum statistics

In September 1996 a total of 10,742 petitions for asylum were submitted. This represents a rise of 1,194 in comparison to August 1996. In comparison to September 1995 the number of refugees dropped by 1,323. The approval rate was 7.8% (853 persons); an additional 5.3% (585 persons) were awarded protection from deportation. The high number of asylum seekers from the area of former Yugoslavia (1,925 from ex-Yugoslavia and 305 from Bosnia Herzegovina) raises concern in the federal ministry of the interior. Federal Interior Minister Kanther emphasizes, however, that refugees from former Yugoslavia have very little chance of being admitted.
BAFl Press Announcement 14.10.96 // SZ 15.10.96 // taz 15.10.96

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