By Euro-Muslims Editorial Desk
2.6 million guest workers had been able to establish their homes in Germany.
According to the German Federal Statistical Office, the number of people with immigrant backgrounds in Germany came to 15.4 million (2007 micro-census). This corresponds to 18.7 per cent of the population, with the tendency rising. Germany’s total net immigration between 2006 and 2050 will amount to 4.4 million people if the balance of migration is 100 000, or 8.6 million people if it is 200 000.
At 19.4 per cent, people with Turkish backgrounds head the list of immigrants by an overwhelming margin, followed by those from Poland (6.8 per cent), the Russian Federation (6.6 per cent) and Italy (5.5 per cent).
The number of immigrants naturalized in Germany has declined in recent years.
Migrants came to Germany mainly for a few reasons: they came as workers, ethnic repatriates, refugees, or dependents immigrating to join their families.
In 1955, Germany and Italy signed the agreement of the recruitment of foreign workers. This was the first of its kind that made the federal Republic of Germany to be an immigration country. And so the first "guest workers" started to flow into Germany.
But during the oil crisis in 1973, the German government stopped foreign workers' recruitment, but 2.6 million guest workers had been able to establish their homes in Germany.
But since January 1, 2005, laws were issued which brought the immigration act into force. The statements of the laws regulate the statutes of the migrants coming to Germany and the integration of foreigners living in Germany.
Religious Divisions
* Christians 62.6%
* Catholics 31.5%
* Protestants 31.1%
* Muslims 3.9%
* Jews 0.1%
German Muslims
* 8 million are Turks
* 200,000 are Bosnians,
* 100,000 are Iranians,
* 80,000 are Moroccans,
* 70,000 are Afghans,
* 800,000 are German converts (most of them come from Turkey)
Muslim Sects
* 2.4 million (80%) Sunni
* 500,000 (17%) Alawite
* 130,000 (3%) Shiite
Islamic Organizations
* Central Council for Muslims in Germany (ZMD)
* Islamic Council (Islamrat)
* Association of Islamic Cultural Centers (VIKZ)
* Turkish Islamic Union (DITIB).
* Labor Market
* Public Perception of Islam
* Bias and Discrimination
* Religious Rights
* Education
* Recent Legislation on Immigration
* Muslims in German Politics
Labor Market
The percentage of unemployment among German Muslim youth is around 30%. Muslim women and youth hold low skilled jobs.
Due to the lack of German citizenship, Muslims face several forms of discrimination in their workplace. Also, their unsecured residency is a main reason of countering discrimination.
To join any job, individuals should hold German citizenship or be a member of an EU country.
But Muslims and asylum seekers have to wait long periods before holding any position. Before 2004, five or six years of official residence were a must before joining the labor market.
Public Perception of Islam
German bad perception towards Islam is the highest amongst the Western European countries.
Up to 46% of the respondents to a survey held in 2003 agreed that "Islam is a backward religion", 34% agreed that "I'm distrustful of people of Islamic religion", while 27% stated that "immigration to Germany should be forbidden for Muslims."
Another survey was conducted on 2004, declared that 93% of Germans link "Islam" with "oppression of women," and 83% with "terrorism."
In 2006, only 30% of Germans reported a "favorable opinion of Islam."
One of the most famous German conditions, titled "Deutsche Zust?nde", states in 2006 that 39% have a feeling of strangeness in their own country with the existence of Muslims as co-citizens. One in three Germans call for a ban on Muslim immigration and 70% think that the relations among Muslims and western countries are generally bad.
Since 9/11, Muslims are increasingly suspected of being terrorists by the German public and the state's institutions.
Bias and Discrimination
A survey was conducted in 2003, in which 65% claimed that Islam does not fit with the West. The majority of people surveyed were against any new immigration, and feel uncomfortable living together with Muslim neighborhoods. All that led to a rise in the numbers of Muslims who feel they are being discriminated against.
The murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands in November 2004 sparked violence in Germany. Since then, foreigners, including Muslims, faced threats of physical violence, especially in the eastern parts of Germany.
In 2006, the EU Monitoring Center for Racism and Xenophobia reported that 70% of non-Muslim Germans believe that there was a conflict between living in a modern society and being a devoted Muslim. German respondents showed more negative views on Muslims than other respondents in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The representation of Islam in schoolbooks is highly criticized. This representation transmits discrimination and generalization, and it also encourages negative prejudice.
A conference on the cooperation with the state to confront stereotypes in schoolbooks was held by the Islamic Council in Germany. As a result, the German George-Eckert Institute developed new materials on the Islamic world for schoolbooks.
Muslims face direct and indirect forms of discrimination in various fields, such as employment, education, and even by the police and in courts. Sometimes, they are denied access to restaurants or clubs.
There is a great segmentation among migrant and non-migrant groups. This conclusion was stated in a survey held by the EMUC (the European Monitoring Center). Differences between native Germans and migrants could be easily noticed generally in regard of earnings, participation, and employment. The ILO (International Labor Organization) also admitted that there are some kinds of discriminations against Muslim and foreigner employees in general.
The German Center for Studies on Turkey (Zentrum für Türkeistudien) has declared that 15% of the discriminatory cases were reported in the housing market.
Lots of discrimination cases by the police were also reported. Young policemen in Berlin are being trained to treat immigrants the same as Germans and to see past their immigrant backgrounds.
Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations have reported on the violation of human rights against foreigners in the German state's associations.
Several initiatives were taken to help foreigners, Turks in particular, and offer antidiscrimination services to address discrimination against Muslims in Germany.
In 1999, a German NGO supporting the integration of foreigners in Germany, called "Aktion Courage", launched a campaign for integrating Muslims and Muslim organizations in Germany.
Religious Rights
Freedom of religion is provided in Germany. The state officially recognizes some faiths, and once recognized, they became public organizations. They get full independence in matters of employment, freedom of organizing councils and chains of command, and the right to receive a percentage of the national revenue based on tax payers' declarations of membership. But Islam has not yet been recognized as a public corporation.
But the Muslim community has realized the importance of "speaking with one voice" towards the German state. This should enable Muslims to gain more rights.
The issue of halal slaughter has also been confronted for many years. In respect for the Muslim belief and obligations, the Federal Constitutional court allowed Muslims to be exempt from animal protection legislation, but the conflicts over slaughtering continue.
Education
In Germany, elementary and high schools offer - generally Catholic or Protestant - religion courses. Alternatively, students can choose to take ethics. Recognized courses in Islam were approved by the German government in 2009, but have not yet been implemented in schools. "My Book About Islam" is the first schoolbook about this religion to be approved for young children in Germany.
Uwe Schuenemann (both interior minister of Lower Saxony and state's integration minister have announced a new education initiative for imams. The first batch of German-educated imams is set to graduate in Osnabrueck in three years, according to Deutsche Welle.
Recent Legislation on Immigration
According to the new citizenship law issued in January 2000, children of foreign parents born in Germany, under certain circumstances, get German citizenship.
A New Immigration Act went into effect on January 1, 2005. The act supports a legislative framework controlling and restricting migrants. In addition, it promotes the integration of legal immigrants in Germany.
According to the Act, there will only be two types of residence permits instead of five: the temporary residence permit and the permanent settlement permits. The right of residence has become oriented on the purpose of residence, such as education, employment, training, and subsequent immigration of a family member.
Recruiting foreign labor is still banned even for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers as well. But sometimes, foreign students remain in Germany for one year after their graduation, searching for jobs with their academic degrees.
Conservative parties in Germany have always attacked this law. They define it as an overly liberal legislation. They combine it with calls for tightening security measures, counting on terrorism in strengthening their point of views.
In 2006, these parties introduced a questionnaire for naturalization about "one's convictions". This questionnaire was aiming to find out whether the applicants had been saturated with the values of the German nation.
But the questionnaire included some controversial questions such as: "What do you think about the fact that homosexual people hold official offices in Germany?", "What do you think about the statement that the wife has to obey her husband and that he may beat her if she does not obey him?", "Your adult daughter/wife wants to dress just like other girls and women as well. Would you try to prevent it? If yes, with what means?"
These questions provoked some human rights advocates and civil society groups, who said that the applicant might lose German citizenship years later, if it becomes known that he or she hid his or her real opinions.
In the Migration Report, the Federal Government's Commissioner on Immigration, Refugees and Integration declared that some legal steps have been taken to improve the employment situation of migrants.
Concerning the headscarf (hijab), eight German states banned schoolteachers from wearing hijab in schools. These states are: Bavaria, Bremen, Baden-Wurtemburg, Hessen, Lower-Saxony, Berlin, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to the Counter-terrorism Act of January 9, 2002, state authorities could order a foreigner to be deported from the country without having to issue an official order to leave. New provisions were made to monitor the activities of foreigners who had been ordered to leave the country. Before issuing a settlement permit or agreeing on an application for naturalization, authorities will make a request for information on the anti-constitutional activists by the person in question.
Muslims in German Politics
"Second and third generation Muslim immigrants have a different approach to Western society than the previous one. They perceive themselves as an integral part of it", according to Dr. Dietrich Reetz - from the Zentrum Moderner Orient ZMO in Berlin.
Germany’s 15 million people (18% of the population) who come from an immigration background are reflected in the German Parliament (2009) by 11 politicians (less than 2 percent of the Bundestag).
As for the pending national ballot, the situation is similar. The candidates with immigration backgrounds where selected in areas with low probability of winning. Immigrants are utterly under-represented in the German federal politics, according to Roland Detsch.
In Germany, Muslims’ interest in politics is surprisingly low (only 37 percent of all Muslims find politics quite or very important, but this value increases with age). Political attitudes appear to be relatively unaffected by religiosity; only 16 percent of respondents report that their faith has a significant effect on their political views, and 65 percent reject the idea of an Islamic party, according to the Religion Monitor 2008 Muslim Religiousness in Germany.
German citizenship is prerequisite for the active and passive right to vote.
In March this year, "Data 4 U" interviewed Turks as to their voting plans. While the SPD obtained more than 55 percent of their support, the CDU benefited of just 10 percent.
Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin
The Körber Foundation launched in 2004 the Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin. Network’s foremost task to convince immigrants to acquire German citizenship. They have called for immigrants to learn the German language as the key to successful political engagement, to identify themselves with Germany and to commit themselves to the principles of the German Basic Law. The Network’s information and education programs are designed to help immigrants “emerge from their political speechlessness, say goodbye to their role as victims (which has been in part self-imposed) and show a stronger interest in political events and the democratic process.”… “All in all, stronger political participation by immigrants is a major contribution to promoting democracy and integration.”
“Immigrants aren’t given an equal chance” says the Stuttgart SPD councilman Ergun Can, Federal Chairman of the ‘Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin’, disillusioned. Above all, when it comes to a mandate at a higher level than that of city councils, we get nowhere. In several places there have already been deliberations whether immigrants should start their own party.” At the municipal level, he says, this would be definitely practicable. “But that’, says Can, “would be the end of integration, absolutely the worst case scenario”.
According to the Körber Foundation in Hamburg, there are only 85 political representatives of Turkish origin in German city councils, state parliaments and the federal parliament.
“Alliance for Peace and Fairness”
The Muslim Council in Bonn initiated the first Muslim voters association in Germany (launched in June 2009). After 2 months, 32 Muslim candidates were on the ballot for Bonn from the “Alliance for Peace and Fairness” and the party obtained 2 seats in the Bonn Council which will be occupied by Haluk Yildiz and Hülya Dogan.
The chairman of the “Alliance for Peace and Fairness”, Haluk Yildiz, stresses that, unlike some other Muslim groups, the Alliance for Peace and Fairness is not out to promote a Muslim agenda.
Sources:
* Political Participation of Immigrants: The Network of Elected Officials of Turkish Origin
* Ethnic Minorities Still Overlooked in German Politics
* Federal Statistical Office (Germany)
* German state to introduce college training for Muslim imams
* German Primary Schoolers Get Textbook on Islam
* Muslims Have a Right to Be Different
* Muslim group fields candidates in local elections
* Haluk Yildiz: „Wir waren doppelt so gut wie erwartet
* www.euro-islam.info
* Die Bundesregierung
* Most of the information of this article is extracted from (www.euro-islam.info)
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