Integration of Immigrants
Immigration continues to be a concern of both economic and social importance. Germany has always been and still is a society with a considerable rate of immigration. Together with the enactment of a new set of immigration laws, integration of migrants has become a main focus of official federal policy. By virtue of language courses and courses on culture, politics, and society, which are largely state-financed, integration of new migrants is regulated country-wide; in some specified cases, participation in such courses is compulsory. Furthermore, the new law provides for fewer formalities and more options for highly skilled third-country nationals to enter the country for working there; citizens of European Union member states generally enjoy the right to abode and work in Germany, thus, their stay is not regulated. At the same time, with a view to security threats by international terrorism, expulsion of foreign hate-mongers and suspected terrorists in Germany has been made easier. As a result of enhanced security measures, immigrants (especially those from Muslim and African countries) may face police inquiries (such as requests for identification).
New immigrants face prejudices and problems integrating with the native population and often segment into separate communities. Higher rates of delinquency and more general integration problems persist amongst some migrant groups. Notwithstanding police operations focusing on this matter, migrants may still be subject to racist assaults mainly in rural areas or small towns in former East Germany. Such problems are not unique to Germany and the incidence of the more severe of these problems are relatively rare in perspective. Some German states (which are responsible for education affairs) have banned Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves in class, generally by prohibiting the use of all religious symbols by teachers; this issue is being intensively discussed in the general public. Unlike France, German states have not extended this ban to pupils. German political backlash due to integration with Europe is resulting in new laws seeking to equalize the pay of eastern European workers (such as those from Poland and the Czech Republic) in an effort to curb the advantages to their hire. Alleged and real competition of "cheap" labour force mainly from Eastern Europe is an issue which right and far-right political groups - in some areas with some success - try to use to promote nationalist approaches in immigration policy. However, during the last decades, no far-right movement has been able to gain enough support to win seats in federal elections or to play any important role in politics on the federal level.
A study released by the OECD revealed that immigrants in Germany perform much worse at school than their counterparts elsewhere. There were great differences in scholastic performance between different groups of immigrants (see also: Academic achievement among different groups in Germany).
Read more about this topic: Social Issues In Germany
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