efms Migration Report
April 1995 |  | | | |
 The Schengen Convention takes effect
As of March 26, 1995 French, German, Benelux, Spanish and Portuguese citizens may freely cross each others" borders without checks. All exterior borders, on the other hand, are subjected to more stringent controls. The German police is attempting to compensate for security deficits with special checks, and is authorized to operate in the entire republic with the aim of combatting across-the-border criminality. The German Ministry of the Interior and the BGS feels the control possibilities are adequate. France"s
refusal to allow over the border checks by foreign police units as previously agreed to has led to ill-feeling in Baden Württemberg"s Ministry of the Interior. The latter has called for keeping BGS officers posted at the border as long as France delays putting the agreement into effect. Bavaria"s Minister of the Interior, Beckstein, regrets that the vast number of crossings renders a thorough control impossible. Shortcomings and loopholes in the agreement have come under scrutiny: A lack of uniformity in the various visa requirements, penal laws and the disparity between asylum regulations have resulted in uncontrollable illegal immigration
and across-the-border criminality . The European Parliament has asked the signatory countries to provide improved protection of refugees and minimum guarantees for fair procedures in granting asylum.
Welt 1.4.95 // Welt 3.4.95 // Focus 3.4.95 // dpa 6.4.95 // SZ 8.4.95 // Welt 13.4.95
Ministry of Labour opposes cheap labour from EU countries Because EU Law allows "dispatched" workers employed in their homelands and then sent to other EU countries to be paid according to conditions in their homelands, there are some 140,000 foreign construction workers, mainly from Portugal and England working in German construction companies. The Minister of Labour, Blüm, has proposed a "Working Conditions Adjustment Law" to counterbalance the drop in wages. This law would prescribe wage equality for all those employed in
Germany.
Spiegel 3.4.95
Illegal alien workers in German restaurant business According to figures released by the Federal Office of Employment, foreigners working without work permits were found in almost a third of the 3,600 checked restaurants. Many of the aliens did not have valid residence permits.
SZ 6.4.95
Germany agrees to cooperate with Eastern European countries to combat criminality The German Ministry of the Interior signed agreements with Latvia (March 3, 1995), Poland (April 5, 1995) and Kazakhstan to cooperate in combatting organized crime. There are plans for exchanging information and coordinating police missions and measures. The most serious areas of criminality across the border involve car theft, drug dealing and alien smuggling.
FR 6.4.95 // SZ 6.4.95 // dpa 30.3.95 // SZ 11.4.95
More petitions for naturalization of Turks The number of Turks wishing to become German citizens has risen sharply. In Berlin 4,000 Turkish immigrants were naturalized in 1994. 27,000 additional petitions have been submitted. In the opinion of the president of the Turkish community in Berlin, this means that many Turks increasingly feel at home in Germany. Due to problems of language and social identity many Turks feel alienated from their home country.
FAZ 10.4.95
Objections to deportations to Turkey and deportation detention As far as Amnesty International and the Istanbul Human Rights Organization are concerned, Turkish pledges of legal protection for deported Kurds are not to be taken seriously as guarantees. The mere declaration of intention made by countries in which persecution is practised, should not be allowed to affect policies on alien rights and asylum. The human rights organization Pro Asyl has called for a law reform to abolish the present form of detention for rejected asylum seekers who are
to be deported. The Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Beckstein, demands that the German Secretary of State, Kinkel, exert more pressure on the refugees" countries of origin in order to facilitate the rapid repatriation of rejected asylum seekers.
FAZ 8.4.95 // FR 11.4.95
Resumption of negotiations with Vietnam Negotiations between Bonn and Hanoi which were halted in February were resumed on April 11, 1995. The subject of these talks is the repatriation of some 40,000 Vietnamese citizens who live in Germany without a residence permit. A large percentage of them had been hired as contract workers in the GDR. Germany will supply Vietnam with 25 Million Marks for reintegrating the returning workers and plans to make additional payments in the area of 100 million marks this year. The federal government reports
that
of the 97,000 Vietnamese residing in Germany, some 47,000 are either without a valid residence permit or in the process of requesting asylum.
FR 12.4.95 // taz 15.4.95 // SZ 15.4.95 // SZ 26.4.95
148 attacks on Turkish institutions since February The police have registered 148 attacks on Turkish institutions in Germany. The ministers of the interior in all the Laender are trying to provide special police protection. PKK supporters and extreme left Turkish groups are suspected of carrying out the majority of the attacks.
Welt 20.4.95 // FAZ 21.4.95 // SZ 22.4.95
Asylum Statistics In April 1995 the number of the asylum seekers was reduced to 8500. This is the lowest number since June 1989. 2,002 refugees come from Turkey, 1,262 from rump-Yugoslavia and 441 from Bosnia. In the first four months of this year there were 40,427 asylum petitions; in comparison to last year the number of petitions was reduced by 9,4%. In April the approval rate was 10.9%.
SZ 5.5.95
April 1995 | | | | |
|
