Gastarbeiter

In the US the debate rages on comprehensive immigration reform.  One proposal (endorsed by President Bush) would involve a "guest worker" program, granting temporary work visas to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.  As Colin Nickerson points out in today's Boston Globe, that idea has not worked out so well in Germany:

"In Germany, guest workers -- mostly poorly educated young men who were issued special visas allowing them entry for one or two years to take unskilled jobs -- helped the nation to become the third-richest in the world. The fabulous post-war prosperity of France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and other West European countries was also boosted by immigrant labor, mainly from Turkey and North Africa.

But more recently, as economic growth has slowed, swelling numbers of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa -- many of them arriving without any visas, or overstaying their visas and melting into the ethnic suburbs -- are being blamed for social stresses from urban blight to chaotic schools."

The failure of these German guest workers to assimilate is having consequences everywhere in Germany - from the Ruetli school in Neukoelln to the suburbs of Stuttgart. Many - even those third generation Turkish-Germans who grew up speaking German - feel alienated:

"According to government figures, Germany boasts 64,600 entrepreneurs of Turkish heritage, responsible for creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Yet people of immigrant stock are still regarded with a mixture of curiosity, caution, and occasionally contempt by many Germans.

''I served in the German Army in Kosovo, and only considered it my duty to my country," said Ali Yapici, 28, an insurance executive whose parents emigrated to Berlin as guest workers in the 1960s. ''Yet among ordinary Germans, I'm treated as a kind of outsider, almost a second-class citizen, even though I speak the same language and share the same hopes of making a good life."

He said: ''Guest workers came to Germany when they were necessary. Both sides benefited. It would be nice, now that times are difficult, if there was a sense of us all being in the same boat. Different people together in one society. But that's the American dream. Here, instead, they look at the immigrants: 'Why are you still here?' "

But Americans will have a chance to learn first hand from an "expert" in German immigration issues. The Web site Sign and SIght is sponsoring a forum next week in New York City which will include the Turkish-German writer Necla Kelek. She -along with Hans-Peter Raddatz -  is the darling of the right-wing talk show circuit since she is more than willing to share her vast knowledge concerning the evils of Islam.  In her most recent book - Die verlorenen Söhne - Necla Kelek interviews Muslim men in Germany who are imprisoned for criminal activities and comes to the conclusion that all Muslim men are criminals and should be imprisoned.  She blames Islam and the advocates of a multicultural society.  I'm sure the approx. one million peaceful, prosperous Muslims who live in the New York City area will benefit from Necla Kelek's lecture.

Gastarbeiter Multikulti Necla Kelek

Comments

[Omar Abo-Namous]

Ohja, von Necla kann man lernen. Die Frau schafft es nicht, ihre eigene Vergangenheit aufzuarbeiten, wie soll sie über die Gegenwart und Zukunft anderer urteilen?

I do hope for the sake of the USA, that nobody attends this meeting. The US-citizens do have enough hate-mongers among themselves (pipes et al), they don't need another one..

[erphschwester]

Es scheint, als koennte man in Deutschland ganz gut davon leben, seine eigene Vergangenheit oeffentlich aufzuarbeiten; warum also sollte man es im Geheimen tun?

Dass hierdurch womoeglich ein falscher Eindruck entsteht (schliesslich berichtet ein Insider), wird billigend in Kauf genommen. Und die Leser freuen sich, weil ihre Vorurteile stimmen.

[The Editrix]

I am German born and based. Thank you for making me aware that there is a "right-wing talk show circuit" here. It has escaped my attention for the last fifty odd years.

Great news! Maybe there IS still hope for this country, after all!

[The Editrix]

I am German born and based. Thank you for making me aware that there is a "right-wing talk show circuit" here. It has escaped my attention for the last fifty odd years.

Great news! Maybe there IS still hope for this country, after all!

[JPC]

How would you propose having a temporary worker program, yet avoiding the cultural rifts that the legal/German-speaking Turks feel?