January 2000 Volume 6 Number 1

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Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party rebuffed SPD Interior Minister Otto Schily during a party convention in December 1999 by passing a resolution urging that asylum seekers be allowed to work while their asylum applications were pending. Party leaders asked that the delegates not endorse the resolution.

Foreigners Commissioner Marieluise Beck released the annual report on foreigners on December 17, 1999. It showed that more foreigners left than entered Germany in 1998--638,955 entered for stays of more than three months, and 605,500 left, primarily because Bosnians departed and there were fewer asylum seekers. About 65 percent of the foreigners living in Germany in 1998 were from non-EU European countries and 20 percent were from EU-member nations.

Naturalization. Germany's new naturalization law went into effect on January 1, 2000, and three government officials visited the a girl born just after 2000 to give her a teddy bear, a pacifier and a copy of the German Constitution. The girl will be considered German and Turkish; she will have to give up her Turkish citizenship by age 23 or lose her German citizenship.

There were several projections of how many naturalizations there may be in the law's first year. Foreigners Commissioner Beck estimated that there would be one million naturalizations in 2000, including 200,000 adults and 800,000 children. There were 107,000 naturalizations (59,700 Turks) in 1998, up from 83,000 in 1997. About 57,000 of those naturalized in 1998 had a right to naturalize because they were born or grew up in Germany.

To naturalize, an adult applicant must assemble translated birth certificates and other documents and receive a letter from his country of citizenship that he has given up his old citizenship. Countries such as Serbia charge $1,000 or more to be released from citizenship, and Turkey charges DM10,000 ($5200) to persons who want to give up their Turkish citizenship without doing military service. Naturalization charges vary by state: Bavaria charges DM500 ($260) for adults and DM100 for children to apply for naturalization.

Naturalization applicants must pass a language test and a civics test. Some Turkish associations predicted that the language test would keep many adults from applying for naturalization. The manual guiding German naturalization authorities is 76 pages long and allows for considerable local discretion. Some foreigners reportedly have moved from CDU-CSU governed states such as Bavaria to SPD-governed states such as Northrhine Westphalia to take advantage of more sympathetic interpretation of naturalization rules.

In a city-by-city roundup, it was noted that Berlin, with 3.4 million residents, had 65,000 naturalized Germans. Among the 450,000 foreigners, about 10 percent have applied for naturalization, and about 12,000 a year were approved for naturalization, including 5,000 Turks. Frankfurt is adding six employees to its naturalization office, and planning mass welcoming ceremonies for new citizens in the city hall. Munich mailed each of its 160,000 foreign residents a brochure on naturalization.

Cologne expects one of the highest rates of naturalization—40,000 to 60,000 of the 120,000 foreigners in the city are expected to apply for naturalization within three years. Stuttgart expects the number of naturalization applications to jump from 2,200 a year to 15,000, although the wait—currently nine months—is also expected to lengthen.

The new law's effects will not be apparent for 23 more years. About 100,000 babies are born to foreign parents in Germany each year, and under the new law they are considered both German citizens and citizens of the country of their parents until age 23—if they do not reject their parents' citizenship by age 23, they lose the German citizenship.

The new law shortens the time an adult must have lived legally in Germany from 15 to eight years before applying for naturalization. Turkish newspapers in Germany in December 1999 urged Turks not to apply for German citizenship because they would have to give up their Turkish citizenship. The papers warned that, without Turkish citizenship, it may be difficult to inherit land, own a business, or to be buried in Turkey.

Germany had 82.1 million residents at the end of 1998. In 1998, there were 67,000 more deaths than births; the number of foreigners rose by 47,000, so that the population fell by 20,000.

A Ghanaian newspaper reported that Africans living in Germany were unlawfully deported with the help of Ghana Airways, the national carrier, for drug dealing. The Ghana Armed Forces provided escorts for the flights.


"Germans crack down on illegal immigrant workers and their employers," Associated Press, December 14, 1999. Raymond Archer, "Ghanaians' agonizing deportations," Ghanaian Chronicle, December10, 1999. http://www.einbuergerung.de/