Effects of immigration & Historical Background
The Immigration law
In 2005 the new immigration law (law to control and limitate immigration) came into effect.
With this Germany declared itself as a country of immigration.
Integration was defined as a legal duty.The law aimed at simplifying the current procedure: many different residence titles for specific purposes, which even experts described as being complicated were simplified into two: The temporary residence permit (to be allowed to be somewhere) and the permanent settlement permit (to be allowed to stay somewhere).
Furthermore, the law aimed at simplifying the corresponding processes. Moreover, it was the first time that language courses became a legal requirement.
The „acceptance phase“
From 1998 to 2005 there was the "acceptance phase"
Gerhard Schröder promised a "determined policy of integration"
Two basic views for the acceptance phase:
- immigrants for demographic and economic reasons
- immigrants must be integrated to avoid problems and conflicts
Since 2000, the reform of nationality law has facilitated the immigration of young foreigners:
- "the option model" (2000 - 2014) allowed a dual nationality until 23 years of age at the latest
- since 2014: children of non-EU citizens born and educated in Germany are allowed to have a dual nationality, under the following conditions: before their 21st birthday they must have lived in Germany for at least 8 years or they must have attended a German school for 6 years
Reasons why immigrants leave their home country
Opportunity
- immigrants leave their countries hoping to find better paid jobs, better schools, safer homes than in their home country
Persecution
-immigrants often choose to leave their country to go to another one where they can practise their religion in peace and safety
Forced Removal
-when a nation's government attempts to persecute people of a certain race or religion and forces them to move out of the country
-when people are moved against their will
Late Repatriates
-people from East European states who are Germans originally and who immigrate to Germany
Reasons for immigration to Germany
- many migrants already made it to Germany
→ family members want to come together
- for migrants searching jobs, Germany is probably the best place to get one
- Late Repatriates
-->emigrants from East European state to Germany that are originally Germans
-->want to go back to their home countries
From 1996 to 2000 the number of foreigners decreased from 7,5 million to 7.2 million because they got the German citizenship.
Sources:
http://focus-migration.hwwi.de
https://www.bamf.de
http://www.bpb.de
http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com
http://www.motherjones.com
