Most foreigners (two-thirds) were naturalized under §10 of the said law, i.e., on the basis of legal residence in Germany for at least 8 years and the ability to support themselves financially (up 8.2%). At the same time, the number of naturalizations through family reunification – for spouses and children of immigrants who already have citizenship or native residents – decreased by 3.4%.
Examining the origin of the 'new Germans', it can be seen that the largest share are native Turks (33,500 people). This is quite natural, given that the Turkish diaspora makes up 25.8% of the 15.3 million foreigners living in Germany. 12,600 holders of 2006-style passports came from Serbia and Montenegro, about 7,000 from Poland; 4,700 from Russia; 4,500 from Ukraine; 3,690 from Iraq; 3,670 from Iran; and 3,550 from Morocco.
Experts particularly highlight the interest in German citizenship among people from Israel. In 2006, 4,313 Israelis received German documents – 50.2% more than the year before. 'In Israel, there has been a clear trend towards acquiring a second passport – whether it be citizenship of the USA, Canada, or any EU country,' explains Freiburg political scientist Professor Dieter Oberndörfer. The number of naturalizations of people born on the territory of present-day Serbia and Montenegro doubled. This, experts believe, is the result of a 2006 intergovernmental agreement on the possibility of holding multiple citizenships (Mehrstaatlichkeit), according to which an applicant for a German passport does not have to give up their previous nationality. According to Professor Oberndörfer, 'the uncertainty of citizens of the former Yugoslavia about their future' is the main incentive for naturalization in Germany, as is 'political instability in Israel'.
Turks do not fall under the definition of Mehrstaatlichkeit: as is known, between 2000 and 2002, about 50,000 people from that country were forced to give up their previously acquired German citizenship if they kept a second national passport. According to the press service of the Berlin Commissioner for Migration and Integration, up to half of the new applications (approved or currently under consideration) were submitted by 'former Germans' of Turkish origin who, in recent years, have managed to file their Turkish identity cards in consulate archives.
The need to give up the first citizenship is the main reason why the negative trend cannot be reversed, Professor Oberndörfer is convinced. 'The positive numbers for 2006 are just a coincidence,' he believes. 'People's unwillingness to cut ties with their roots, to part with national cultural traditions, was and will be more important than the right to vote or freedom of visa-free travel. This is especially true for the older generation – namely, elderly people, including Turks who came to Germany as guest workers in their time, have all the legal grounds for naturalization.'
'The so-called breakthrough is the result of accelerated processing of old cases,' echoes Kenan Kolat, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany. 'Foreigners by and large do not want to become Germans also because they do not identify with the country of residence, being a constant target of racist and xenophobic sentiments.'
To see oneself as a victim of racism and to isolate oneself from society within the confines of national diasporas, or to integrate into that society by abandoning the stereotypes of the 'small homeland' – this is the personal free choice of every migrant. Whether to regard naturalization as a reward for special merits or as a step towards integration – this will be decided by the authorities, and opinions vary by region and even by cabinet.
Thus, in Berlin, a senate project for accelerated processing of applications is operating. In Saxony, citizenship applicants take a test on general knowledge of German history and modern times. In Baden-Württemberg, they undergo a tolerance check by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. There has never been a uniform naturalization procedure, and there still isn't, despite numerous promises by federal and state politicians. In such a situation, the positive numbers from the statistical office for last year probably should indeed be considered coincidental.
In the first 7 months of 2007, the border camp 'Friedland' received 3,431 late resettlers, while in the same period of 2006 it received 3,831 people, and in the first 7 months of 2005 – 26,008 people.
'The record low number this year is a clear result of the new immigration legislation,' says camp director Heinrich Hernschmeier. 'In the early 1990s, from the countries formed on the territory of the former USSR, up to 300,000 or more late resettlers arrived in Germany annually. But now their number has decreased significantly. Due to the new provisions of the law – in particular, language requirements – their number is unlikely to exceed 10,000 people per year. For the entire year 2006, 7,925 ethnic German resettlers from the former USSR entered Germany.'
The data he announced speak for themselves: a solid barrier has been placed against the resettlement of Russian Germans (as well as Jews from the former USSR – although they follow a different 'line', the new immigration legislation has been tightened for them as well). And if this was the goal set by the developers of the said legislation, then they should be given credit: it has been achieved in record time.
Elena Obodovskaya.
Russkaya Germaniya