A right to stay

Nearly 180,000 undocumented migrants in Germany will soon be able to live in the country legally – providing they have a job by 2009. This is one of the core provisions etched into the compromise solution hammered out between the members of the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic and Christian Democratic Parties last week. The new regulations on the so-called “right to remain” (Bleiberecht) have been heavily criticized by migrant rights groups and the Green Party opposition. German news magazine, Der Spiegel, offers an English overview of the commentaries featured in various German dailies. The German Parliament is set to vote on the compromise before the Easter break.

Migrants who have either entered the country illegally, have outstayed their asylum periods or have seen their asylum claims rejected will have their cases reexamined according to these new provisions. First criteria, however, is that they entered the country prior to July 2001. Migration organizations, such as the Refugee Board (Fluechtlingsrat) Berlin have been particularly critical of the fact that this new law does not take a comprehensive approach, but again includes some and excludes others. The SPIEGEL-article underlines a number of other limitations: “Spouses can only follow “tolerated” immigrants to Germany if they are aged 18 or over and can demonstrate language competence in German. Likewise, various services available to German residents can be withheld, such as child credits and welfare. The new legislation would also allow authorities to verify the background of immigrants.”

Commentators accross the country agree that giving asylum seekers and undocumented migrants the right to look for work is a key step toward facilitating integration. Previously, asylum seekers were barred from working until their eventual fate had been decided. This led to the outbreak of racist violence, particularly in Eastern parts of Germany in the early 1990s and again in the early years of this decade.

Critics of the compromise are outspoken against the power given to local state bodies to decide the terms of aid payments for this group of migrants. Bavaria has been a long-standing advocate of giving asylum seekers only basic supplies (food, shelter) instead of direct welfare payments. Migrant organizations criticize this approach as a way of keeping the social status of these migrants as low as humanly possible. And what of these former illegal migrants who cannot be gainfully employed due to illness or old age? No provisions have been made with regards to their status.

Migration organizations are also doubtful of the role immigration officers are to play in assessing the potential terrorist threat of these type of immigrants, as suspects or those with a criminal record are to be deported upon full assessment of their files.

A commentary in the left-leaning Berliner Zeitung, closes by saying “it (the proposed legislation) also says a lot about the German attitude toward those who have fled their home countries to escape war, persecution or economic distress. They’re tolerated, but not accepted.”

A reform of other pieces of the legislative puzzle on immigration is next on the Interior Minister's agenda. In keeping with the framework laid down by the previous government and the goals set by the EU's Hague Program, these changes must be comprehensive, functional and cognizant of Germany's changing needs with respect to migrant labor. Again, commentators aren't too hopeful: “Now Germany is returning to an immigration policy that denies reality. In a globalized world where nation states are increasingly in need of the knowledge immigrants bring, Germany's governing coalition is setting up further obstacles to immigration. It's heading in the wrong direction.”