Cultural Diversity in German Speaking Countries: Migration

By Noah Taylor

Migration in Cold War Germany

• 738,312 Germans immigrated to North America between 1946 and 1968

• Emigration from Germany peaked just before the Berlin wall was erected

• 560,000 ethnic Germans emigrated from Asia to Germany from 1992 to 1996

Ethnicity and Citizenship

• Non-ethnic Germans are not regarded as citizens according to German law

• Ethnic Germans who are born outside of Germany are granted citizenship

Asylum in Germany

• The most asylum seekers who applied were 440,000, in 1992.

• Germany was a popular destination for asylum seekers in the 1980s.

• Most of the immigrants were fleeing the civil war in Yugoslavia.

Irregular Immigration

• There are no real scientific studies concerning irregular immigrants.

• There are estimated to be between 500,000 and 1 million immigrants without legal documentation living in Germany.

• Most illegal residents are asylum seekers, job seekers, and refugees

Attractiveness of Germany

• Many people think that Germany needs to make itself more attractive to immigrants.

• The biggest concern is that it is hard to progress up the hierarchical ladder in German companies.

Migration in Modern Germany

• Germany became a country that had more emigrants than immigrants in 2008.

• Germany also has a graying population.

• Germany had a net emigration of 13,000 in 2009.

Questions

• Why is Germany less attractive to immigrants?

a. It is not beautiful enough.b. Its harder to progress up the hierarchical ladder.c. It does not have enough McDonalds restaurants.

• Why did people emigrate form Yugoslavia to Germany?

a. Civil warsb. An energy crisisc. Terrorist bombings

Answers

B. Its harder to progress up the hierarchical ladder.

A. Civil wars.

Links

• http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Germany-MIGRATION.html

• http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,697085,00.html

• http://focus-migration.hwwi.de/Germany.1509.0.html?&L=1