Despite Chancellor Merkel's loud statements that 'the concept of multiculturalism in Germany has failed' and the presence of organized neo-Nazi groups in the country, the flow of immigrants to Germany does not dry up. According to the Federal Statistical Office, about 82 million people live in the country today. About 11 million residents, that is, every eighth person, has foreign roots. This means that either they, or their parents or grandparents were born outside Germany. In the last two years alone, 550 thousand people came to the country, 300 thousand of them in the first half of 2012.
The 'immigrant palette' of Germany is incredibly wide. Over the past 60 years, 194 countries of the world have 'given' new residents to Germany. Most, of course, come from European states (7.4 million), half of them from the EU (3.5 million). As for specific countries, the main sources of immigrants over the same period were the former Soviet Union and the successor states formed after its collapse (2.4 million people), Turkey (1.5 million), and Poland (1.1 million).
The reasons why people leave their familiar places and go in search of a 'better life' vary. So, in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, the majority of arrivals were 'guest workers'. The 80s were marked by a flow of refugees. The 90s – by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the return to Germany of resettlers, the so-called Russian, Kazakh Germans, etc. In recent years, the consequences of the euro crisis are increasingly felt: Greeks, Spaniards have been flocking to the country, seeking refuge from unemployment in their homeland in the economically more stable Germany.
Dina USMANOVA,
'Russkaya Germaniya'.