Rallying for the immigrants

By K. V. Krishnaswamy

BERLIN: Does the violence and the activities of right extremist groups in Germany presage a return to the nightmare era of the Thirties and Forties of the last century? An emphatic ``no'' must certainly be the answer. But recent political signals, particularly the utterances of Ms. Friedrich Merz, a conservative who leads the Christian Democratic Party in Parliament, have not helped matters.

Ms. Merz' reference to a Leitkultur or German leading culture had an ominous ring, coming from a leading light of the former ruling party. There was no clear explanation of what she meant when she said during an interview to a leading daily in the context of assimilating immigrants that ``foreigners'' should adapt to a German ``leading culture''.

``We have a problem integrating some of the foreigners in Germany and we should not exacerbate that problem by more immigration,'' Ms. Merz said in that bombshell interview, and went on to argue that there was need for a law on ``immigration and integration.''

Ms. Merz' party chief and prospective Chancellor disowned the remarks and from other reactions as well, it was obvious that the immigrants, an increasing target of the ultra right, are not without friends.

At the office of a counselling bureau for foreigners in Berlin, help seekers queue up long before the doors open in the morning, much like visa applicants in front of American consulates in India. Though it is a government-appointed centre, the office of the Commissioner of Foreigners' Affairs of the Berlin Senate appears keen on guarding its freedom of action. The posters that greet you in the main reception hall inside give you some idea of the nationalities of those seeking assistance. Most of the immigrants are third world citizens and many of them have had a taste of the tough, often unwarranted harsh side of the German law enforcement agencies.

The counselling bureau was set up with the declared aim of creating ``a cosmopolitan, tolerant and liberal'' Berlin, with a working group ``for the promotion of nonviolent, multicultural understanding''. ``We help the immigrants in all ways. We try to help them secure the basic needs and in the larger sense assist them integrate themselves into society,'' said Ms. Elke Pohl at the bureau. Her use of the term ``non- German Berliner'' at first sounded odd but then as we listened to her it was clear that she was talking about a large group of people still to get integrated in this former imperial capital being restored to its majesty and grandeur.

Germany needs to keep up its level of immigration if only to ensure that society remained at its current level of age. ``It is quite an old society,'' Ms. Pohl said referring to the fact that Germany's dependence on foreign labour has only increased as the population has kept at stagnant levels. According to one reliable estimate, the country needs 200,000 to 250,000 new immigrants every year to fill its labour ranks.

Immigrants form about nine per cent of the population in the capital, more than two thirds of them Turks of second and third generation who have been the main victims of much harassment and acts of violence by right-wing extremist gangs like the Skinheads. Of the rest, east Europeans form the bulk, mostly from across the border in Poland and Hungary. A small percentage of Africans - apparently those that had been invited for ideological considerations by the former East German regime - and Asians, mostly Chinese and Vietnamese, make up the rest.

There is a sizeable Indian community, which rarely crosses the path of the law enforcement authorities. The Tamil Sangham in Berlin is several years old, claimed a housewife whose contact number the bureau gave. Her husband, hailing from Bangalore, who has been here for a quarter century, has brought a number of compatriots to live and work in Berlin, she said in a hesitant disused Tamil.

Integrating into German society continues to be an obstacle race for the immigrants. Turkish families for example have lived in Berlin for 30 years and more without worthwhile contact with the mainstream of the population and so are not conversant in the German language. This failure - or inability - is proving to be a major drawback since knowledge of German is one of the criteria for obtaining German citizenship. The state provides assistance of sorts for the immigrants to learn the language but without opportunities for genuine assimilation such help has proved to be of no avail.

There was also, among the common people, a total lack of awareness of the need for immigrant labour to sustain the current level of progress. Most seemed blissfully unaware of the bold initiative through the green card scheme launched by the Government this summer to try and attract immigrant talent.

At the official level, there is keenness to know the type of immigrants who are responding to the scheme and their quality. The response from India has not been encouraging yet.

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