German authorities want to give immigrants preference over native Germans
The main idea of the draft law is that migrants should receive preference over native Germans when being hired for civil service or when participating in tenders for government contracts. In addition, knowledge of foreign languages and competencies in various cultures will be given more weight.
In this case, the existing practice for Berlin companies that take young people from migrant backgrounds for vocational training will serve as an example. Such firms will experience 'special benevolence' from the Berlin Senate.
The draft law also highlights special rights for Muslims; in particular, they should be able to bury deceased co-religionists according to traditions within 24 hours, rather than waiting their turn at the funeral home. Amendments to existing legal texts are also planned. For example, the phrase 'church holidays' will be replaced with 'religious holidays'.
According to Berlin's integration senator, Carola Bluhm of the Left Party, with the implementation of such a law, the state of Berlin 'will assume a leading role in integration issues throughout Germany'.
However, it seems that her efforts are not understood by many Berlin politicians. The main accusation of critics of the new rules is this: the provisions of the capital's integration law contradict the German Constitution. Former Defense Minister, CDU representative, legal scholar Rupert Scholz believes that it is necessary to speak 'about a violation of equality in German society'. In addition, he notes that the very concept of 'migrant' is not defined in current legislation and therefore cannot be determined from a legal point of view.
Berlin conservatives are confident that the new rules will only set different groups of the capital's population against each other. Of course, it would be good to employ more people with migrant roots in the public and state sectors, notes CDU parliamentarian Kurt Wansner. However, in the politician's opinion, their hiring should be carried out under general conditions, on the basis of competitive selection. Otherwise, the state of Berlin will violate European anti-discrimination provisions based on nationality.
The initiators of the draft law, for their part, note that it is primarily about overcoming the existing 'discrimination against migrants'. For example, it has not yet been possible to introduce a quota for Berliners from other countries who want to get a position in the civil service. However, as many experts note, the main problems of Berlin migrants are not related to their origin, but to insufficient education and low family incomes.