Immigration Deal
March 13, 2007
The interior ministry announced the compromise deal late on Monday, after more than three hours of negotiations between Social Democratic Deputy Chancellor Franz Müntefering and his conservative counterparts, CDU Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and CSU party leader Edmund Stoiber.
The parties in the grand coalition have long squabbled about what to do with foreigners whose asylum applications have been rejected but who cannot be deported for humanitarian reasons. In particular, the CSU -- the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democrats -- has resisted the idea that those foreigners should be allowed to stay permanently.
Until now, the 180,000 people directly affected by the new arrangement have existed in a kind of legal limbo. They weren't deported, but they weren't given residency permits either, which would have allowed them to attend university or seek employment.
These people could now be able to establish themselves permanently in Germany. But the compromise, which basically confirms an understanding reached in 2006, also contains a number of restrictions.
No additional costs
Conservatives were in hurry to point out that, under the deal, residency permits granted to foreigners would be on a "trial basis" only. Foreigners will have to find work by 2009 or risk losing their right to remain.
The compromise also stipulates that local governments are under no obligation to incur extra costs to provide additional social services to the would-be residents.
And the new agreement also threatens unspecified sanctions for foreigners who refuse to take part in German language and integration courses.
The co-leader of the opposition Green party, Claudia Roth, had harsh words for the compromise, calling it the result of a "competition in paltriness." Only those "who proved economically useful" would profit, Roth said, while those truly in need of protection would get no help at all.
The deal will now go to the entire government cabinet for approval and could be put up for a parliamentary vote by Easter. But whether it will introduce clarity into the often murky waters of German immigration policy remains to be seen.