New German Aliens Bill
The
new German Aliens law contains new regulations for immigration which will
replace the previous ones. Immigration will only be allowed for
people highly qualified in certain professions. Part of the bill refers to
integration, but the main subject is good knowledge of the German language.
Positive regulations include that refugees who are subjected to non-state
persecution and gender specific prosecution cannot be deported, and the general
establishment of commissions working on particularly hard cases. Negative
regulations concern children to be reunited with their parents: the Christian
Democrats insisted on fixing the age at 12 years.
Furthermore the
former status of Duldung referring to rejected refugees who cannot return to
their home country will be abolished. There are only unclear proposals on papers
replacing it. The foreigners’ authorities who have always been reluctant to
decide in not clearly defined cases will have to decide according to their
discretion. This means there is the risk that thousands of
refugees will be living illegally in Germany. The Bill expressly states
that decisions going further than international law may not be taken, i.e.
liberal decisions are excluded.
The
voting in the Upper house (bundesrat) however is contested. The Minister
President of the Land Brandenburg voted 'YES', but his substitute
After this disagreement on the voting procedure, the new bill is now awaiting signature of the President Johannes Rau. He has to decide whether the bill will come into force or whether the whole procedure has to be repeated again. The CDU is putting Rau under great pressure not to sign it. Rau is under no time limit to sign, so it is not clear as to when answer can be accepted.
Consult the new Bill: Bundesratsdrucksache 157/02 "Gesetz zur Steuerung und Begrenzung der Zuwanderung und zur Regelung des Aufenthalts und der Integration von Unionsbürgern und Ausländern (Zuwanderungsgesetz)"