Integration politics
January 31, 2012
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated the first so-called integration summit in 2006, she left no doubt that the integration of Germany's 16 million foreigners or people with foreign roots was a top priority for her.
At that first summit, a national plan of action was agreed on in order to serve as a basis for the integration politics in the coming years.
Education is key
The plan singled out education as a important component of successful integration. "Education is the key to integration," said Maria Böhmer, Germany's commissioner for integration, at the time. That meant, she added, that efforts to integrate foreigners in schools should be stepped up. Also, the study of the German language was to be started in kindergarten.
The second integration summit in July 2007 was marked by tensions. A number of Turkish groups in Germany didn't attend in order to protest recent changes to the country's immigration laws.
The new regulations meant, for instance, that Turkish wives who followed their husbands to Germany had to be at least 18 years old and would have to be able to prove sufficient command of German before they'd be allowed to come.
National integration plan
The 2007 summit led to the presentation of a national integration plan drawn up by politicians as well as representatives of foreigners' groups and organizations. The plan called for all sides to step up their efforts and improve the quality of language and integration courses.
Merkel hosted the third integration summit in November 2008. Fifteen months after the launch of the integration plan, it was time for a first assessment.
The integration courses were deemed a success, as for many of the participants the number of German lessons had been increased.
The government also put money into groups and organizations that coach and accompany young people with non-German backgrounds during school and the first years in their job.
Language and integration courses
At the fourth integration summit in 2010 the main focus was again language skills and education. Merkel was optimistic about the progress made so far.
"In about five to seven years we will have offered such courses to all people in Germany who are interested in taking it. That's around 1.8 million people," she said.
The prevention of violence and projects in troubled neighborhoods were also on the agenda at the 2010 summit. Merkel called for clear goals to be set by which progress could later be measured.
Yet another focus was on the economy and employment situation. The idea was that school and university degrees from abroad should be more easily recognized in Germany. A new legislation to that end was passed in 2011.
Merkel said she was particulary happy about the fact that immigrant groups and associations had expressed their support for the government's focus on education and language. The chancellor pointed out that there were many encouraging examples of where integration projects have worked out very well.
"We are on the right track and can point to a lot of success - even if there still remains a lot more to do," Merkel said.
No one-way street
Concluding the 2010 summit, Merkel also stressed that a successful integration policy would change society as a whole. "This means that integration is not a one-way street. Rather, it works both ways and requires openness from all sides," she said.
This year's summit will again look at the issue of language skills, but will also focus on immigrants working in the civil service or civil society organizations. The talks also want to focus on a recently uncovered right-wing terrorism cell in Germany and mark a stance against racism and right-wing ideologies.
Author: Sabine Ripperger / ai
Editor: Martin Kuebler