Germany's New "Integration Law"

by Soeren Kern
May 29, 2016 at 6:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8145/germany-integration-law

The new law applies only to legitimate asylum seekers, not to the hundreds of thousands of economic migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who have entered Germany illegally by posing as asylum seekers.
Of the more than 1.1 million migrants who arrived in Germany in 2015, only 476,649 have applied for asylum. Many of the rest have gone underground and are sustaining themselves through petty crime and drug dealing.
Nearly half (49%) of the migrants in Germany whose asylum applications were rejected during the past two years have not left the country, according to leaked government data.
"Regaining control of our borders is an existential issue for our culture and the survival of our society." — Thilo Sarrazin, renowned German central banker and a former member of the Social Democrats.

After months of haggling, Germany's coalition government has agreed on a new "Integration Law" aimed at regulating the rights and responsibilities of asylum seekers in Germany.

The main focus of the law is to encourage refugees to learn enough German to be able to find a job and help pay for their living expenses.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has hailed the new law as a "milestone," and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says it represents a "true paradigm shift in Germany."

Critics counter that the new law is a largely symbolic measure directed at reassuring German voters and blunting the rise of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party.

Details of the Integration Law were announced on May 25 after a two-day government summit in Schloss Meseberg, a castle north of Berlin. Based on the motto "Support and Demand" (Fördern und Fordern), the new law makes the government an active participant in the integration process. Key components of the law include:

Integration Courses. Courses on German culture, society and values will be expanded from 60 hours to 100 hours. The number of available slots will be increased from 20,000 to 200,000 nationwide. The courses will be obligatory for all asylum seekers; those who refuse to attend will have their social welfare benefits cut.
Language Courses. Asylum seekers will now be allowed to apply for language courses six weeks after arriving in Germany (compared to three months before) and regardless of whether their asylum applications have been processed. All refugees seeking permanent residency must be proficient in German.
Work Programs. The government will create 100,000 low-wage jobs paying around one euro an hour. Refugees who refuse to work will have their benefits cut.
Labor Laws. Existing labor laws will be relaxed to encourage German companies to hire refugees, even if better qualified German or EU citizens are available for an advertised position.
Preventing Ghettoes. The new law will authorize regional governments to determine where refugees will live, either by allocating or banning them from certain areas, for the next three years. The objective is to prevent refugees from settling in migrant ghettoes.
Permanent Residency. Refugees who are proficient in German and can provide for their own upkeep in Germany can apply for permanent residency after five years; those with exceptional German skills can do so after three years.

The law has been accompanied by the so-called Meseberger Declaration on Integration, a statement of principles summarizing the government's new integration policy.

Addressing the proliferation of migrant sex crimes in Germany, the document states: "We will not accept assaults on women, children and others in need of protection, whether such attacks are directed against German citizens or against refugees."

Critics say the new law, which must be approved by the German Parliament, which will debate the measure in July, is inadequate to deal with Germany's integration problems.

For a start, the law applies only to legitimate asylum seekers, not to the hundreds of thousands of economic migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East who have entered Germany illegally by posing as asylum seekers.

Of the more than 1.1 million migrants who arrived in Germany in 2015, only 476,649 have applied for asylum, according to official statistics. Many of the rest have gone underground and are sustaining themselves through petty crime and drug dealing. The government has not said how it plans to "integrate" such migrants.

In addition, the government is already facing an acute shortage of instructors to teach the integration courses. It remains unclear where the government will find thousands of new instructors envisioned in the new law. Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has admitted: "The bottleneck is not money but the lack of teachers."

Also unclear is who will pay for implementing the new law. According to a recent estimate, the total cost of "integrating" refugees will reach 25 billion euros ($28 billion) in 2016 alone. Leaders of some of Germany's 16 federal states are demanding that the central government assume responsibility for at least half this amount.

Moreover, some critics say the law lacks meaningful punitive measures. Although it does call for cutting welfare benefits to refugees who refuse to learn German, it does not threaten them with deportation. Of course, refugees fleeing warzones cannot be returned to their countries of origin, even if they refuse to learn German.

In any event, Germany is lenient when it comes to deportation. For example, nearly half (49%) of the migrants in Germany whose asylum applications were rejected during the past two years have not left the country, according to government data leaked to Die Welt.

Perhaps most importantly, the new law appears to be based on the assumption that the EU-Turkey migrant deal will hold. If Turkey reopens the floodgates to mass migration, and hundreds of thousands of additional migrants flow into Germany, integration efforts are likely to collapse.

Hans-Peter Uhl of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said the new law does not go far enough: "Integration is good and important, but placing limits on the number of refugees would be much better."

Stephan Mayer, also of the CSU, added: "Whoever refuses deportation should be sent to a detention center and deported within four days."

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democrats (SPD) says the Integration Law is actually the precursor to a full-fledged Immigration Law, a claim disputed by Angela Merkel. Gabriel — who has called for airlifting migrants directly from the Middle East to Germany — says he plans to introduce a draft immigration law this fall; critics of the measure say it would encourage yet more migration to Germany.

Thilo Sarrazin, a renowned German central banker and a former member of the Social Democrats (SPD), has been warning Germans for years about the consequences of mass migration. In 2010, he wrote the best-selling book, "Germany Does Away with Itself" (Deutschland schafft sich ab), which shattered Germany's long-standing taboo on discussing the social changes transforming the country due to the presence millions of non-integrated Muslims.

In his latest book, "Wishful Thinking," (Wunschdenken), Sarrazin accuses Merkel of "no longer being concerned about the interests of Germans and the future of their nation, the protection of their living environment (Lebensumfelds) and their cultural identity." He concludes: "Regaining control of our borders is an existential issue for our culture and the survival of our society."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in 2016.

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Related Topics: Europe's Migrant Crisis, Germany

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Comment on this item

14 Reader Comments

Christopher Bowen • May 29, 2016 at 23:13

The degree and extent of self annihilation in Europe was largely concealed until the great 'migration' of Muslims. Sweden is positively suicidal. Germany is a close second. UK follows them closely. France knows it is finished. All this is due to the neo-Marxist triumph in European politics, education, society, and media. Unfortunately, the Sanders campaign is revealing how much 40 years of neo-Marxist indoctrination in US colleges and universities has triumphed. Europe is already finished. No recovery is possible and the Islamic invasion is now irreversible and will lead to a virtual if not total Caliphate by 2050.

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Steve Hong Kong • May 29, 2016 at 22:55

I have a good friend who teaches migrants English in a Northern English city. She is nearing retirement thankfully, but has become very cynical in recent years. She has told me on a number of occasions that the vast majority of people whom she teaches, have absolutely no interest in learning English, no interest in learning about British culture and use any excuse to leave the lessons early. She has also been teaching at a community centre and said that even though the lessons are free for the people not in work, there have been very few students. She did add that as there was virtually no English spoken in this part of the city, there was actually no need for many of the local residents to learn English.

She has been teaching English for many years and estimates that about 10%, possibly 15% of the new migrants in Germany will learn German and become productive members of society there. If this is a fairly accurate prediction, you would have to wonder about the other 80+%. What will they do and why would Mrs. Merkel want all these people to come to live in her country??

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Wackford Squeers

Steve Hong Kong • Jun 1, 2016 at 18:46

Your friend is probably an "old school" (no pun intended) teacher but let's be honest, British children know little about British history or how we arrived at a civilised, prosperous state. What they have been taught is that British history is about how wicked Britain was and how exploitative. This is because the whole narrative of British and western culture and history has been hijacked by the left. A major problem with multiculturalism is that it is perceived by the left wing establishment that to teach British history and culture is offensive to someone, somewhere. So the British pupil is fed a diet of left wing propaganda, lies and half truths. This has been going on for the last 30 years and is getting worse. Young people are going through university yet have never heard of Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar or Wellington and Waterloo. The trouble is the West has not got much culture left after the PC cultural Marxists have been busy tearing it to shreds.

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John • May 29, 2016 at 19:32

It's become patently obvious that Angela still has her head stuck in the sand and is both unable and unwilling to see that the winds of public opinion have shifted against her.

It now appears she will have stiff competition coming from Ms. Petry and Mr. Sarrazin for the chancellorship. However, rather than wait, it would be best for the country if she resigned now, and offered profound apologies to the German people for putting the German people and their country at risk.

Do it, Angela.

Resign.

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Roderick Flint • May 29, 2016 at 19:29

Does the German government really think that these Muslim invaders really have any intention of integrating? When will they wake up and see what's going on. They want to destroy Germany and the whole of Europe and for us to bow down to them as is happening in Sweden. They even told us this is what they will do and they are doing it without any resistance what so ever. We can thank the lefties and the PC brigade for that oh and not forgetting Merkel.

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Ray • May 29, 2016 at 14:34

This is some kind laughable! The EU is done, finished, bye bye Germany!

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Anna • May 29, 2016 at 12:13

He works at the fun park in Schluchsee (Baden-Württemberg), the one with the tube slopes.

He looks Indian. He told me he was a refugee. He spoke only broken English and broken German.

He told me that he will be given a German passport in two years.

I was asking him what his plans were, for work and integration.

He hugged me tight like a 4 year old then shoved his hands up my shorts and tried to kiss me. He didn't stop when I said no and tried to push him away.

So I had to push him away by pressing on pressure points under his chin.

It was horrible.

Who will be next ?

Groping isn't illegal in Germany and they don't understand or agree with Western culture.

I even tried to educate the guy and he just kept saying, "let's have sex, all women in Germany sleep with lots of men," bla, bla, bla. And that is not true.

Thanks Frau Merkel.

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Bob Cratchit

Anna • Jun 1, 2016 at 18:33

I think you'll find that "groping " is illegal in Germany. It is an assault and an assault which involves acts or suggestions of unsolicited sexual contact is a sexual assault. This is the case in all Western law. It might be worded differently but the meaning will be the same. Most countries in the West have even re-defined rape to include other sexual assaults other than classic penetration. Report this creep to the police and insist that they act; if they do not, complain to the chief of police or the minister or Merkel.

This sinister excuse for a man will try this on other girls; eventually he could rape one. He needs to be apprehended before this happens. Women must report any such incidents to the police. Make the police do their duty.

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Vegasjoe57 • May 29, 2016 at 11:48

What's in it for the German people? What politician would sell out her constituents without any say? Where is the rule of law and why is it sex crimes against women go unpunished?

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Joseph McEvoy • May 29, 2016 at 11:24

With Merkel at the helm, she has destroyed one of the greatest countries in Europe. She needs to be removed if the country is to survive. Send all those refuges back to where they came from. You might have a chance if you get rid of Merkel.

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Ebeneezer Scrooge • May 29, 2016 at 10:52

It won't work. The majority of Muslim migrants have absolutely no intention of assimilating into German culture, or any other Western culture. It is against their "religion". Islam forbids adopting the ways and customs of the infidel, unless it is to protect Islam and is therefore only on a temporary basis and not sincere. Merkel and her fellow morons might just as well tell Muslims to choose a new religion or ideology; she would have more or less the same result. The only culture that can exist alongside a Muslim culture is Muslim culture; even then it has the "right" Muslim culture. Within that culture there exists provision to deal with the non Muslim, the institution of dhimmitude. This is part of Islam and a natural result of the introduction of large numbers of Muslims into a non Muslim culture.

Islam is NOT going to change it's 1400 year old fight to dominate the world just to please Merkel or the Germans or anyone else; that Is Islam; it is it's raison d'etre.

The only way to protect German and Western culture from destruction is to either prohibit the establishment of an Islamic presence or to only allow a very small Islamic presence of the more educated or professional class; oh, and to make sure that left wing, or pro multi culti dopey or malicious people are kept out of government. That's the responsibility of the people, to vote intelligently and realize that if a politician offers something that seems too good or too easy to achieve without struggle and work and enterprise, or talks about giving goods or services for free, to recognise such statements as the lies and trickery that they invariably are.

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Mickey Oberman • May 29, 2016 at 10:32

The Hun is done.

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Jeff Page • May 29, 2016 at 10:04

What is the point of bringing in new laws when it doesn't apply to all? And on top of that the Germans haven't got the facilities to cope with these new ideas. That is all they are, ideas! Merkel has become increasingly more desperate after losing popularity with the German people so this is a way of pacifying some. At least for a short time when it is seen to be a failure. There will inevitably be some immigrants who will want to be part of the scheme and will no doubt be good citizens, especially Christians amongst them. But the vast majority will be Muslim, and they won't want any part of ordinary German society, and they certainly won't integrate! Frau Merkel needs to sit down and study the koran then she may get an idea of what she's let her people in for. It's not just Merkel, it's most leaders across the EU, they seem to have a death wish and want to spend as much money as possible on the immigrants with crazy schemes that aren't going to make any difference. As a result, most EU countries will struggle to cope with services for their own people, but they don't appear to care about them as much as a lost cause. All we can hope for in Europe is for a leader to emerge who is strong enough to stand up to the other idiots in the EU and ensure that the continent is safe for us the people. And to get rid of any immigrants who are a threat to our way of life, our democracy, and our freedom. Otherwise, Frau Merkel will take us down the road to nowhere and we'll be swamped with immigrants and terrorists from all over the world!

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Josephine Bacon • May 29, 2016 at 08:12

If nearly half the would-be immigrants whose applications were refused remain in Germany can you imagine the equivalent percentage in Britain, because we have no identity cards? The Labour government wanted to bring in identity cards but wanted to charge everyone £30.00 for them! That is disgusting, no one should have to pay for their identity cards which must cost a fraction of that amount to produce on such a huge scale. Identity cards are a necessity in the Europe of today, threatened by mass immigration from poorer countries run by dictators (80% of the world lives under a dictatorship) to say nothing of terrorism.

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