Appeal to the new German Federal Government

As the new German Federal Government takes office today, a broad civil society alliance is calling for a responsible migration and asylum policy and for a new tone in the debate on immigration.

“The election campaign was characterized by a heated atmosphere – primarily directed against refugees and immigrants. This has also found its way into the coalition agreement,” the appeal states. “This must finally come to an end. The exclusion of individual groups harms social cohesion and only benefits the enemies of a liberal democracy,” the signatories emphasized.

“The fundamental right to asylum must not be infringed. These people are fleeing from extreme hardship, from wars or outbreaks of violence – and it is especially the members of persecuted or threatened minority groups who need protection. Thus, future foreign policy must now focus on the causes of flight and be consistently geared towards safeguarding international human rights and, in particular, the protection of persecuted minority groups all over the world,” stated Sarah Reinke, head of human rights work at the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP).

“Migrants and people who fled to this country are an integral part of our society. They belong to Germany“, the alliance stated. “It is not the refugees and immigrants who are dividing out society, but rather a policy that failed to consistently address the structural and social problems for too long.” Further, the alliance criticized: “Refugees are being blamed for the considerable challenges for local authorities and individual professional groups in connection with migration, instead of tackling the actual social, political, and financial causes of these challenges.”

What is important now are well-designed concepts for a functioning policy on asylum, immigration, and integration that supports openness and diversity. This includes:

• The protection of individual rights – especially the right to asylum – which would have to include a waiver on rejections at the border.
• Preserving legal pathways to protection – such as resettlement and admission programs as well as, in particular, family reunification.
• Measures to ensure that everyone can be successfully integrated – for example reliable and adequate investments in integration and reception structures, such as a permanent extension of the right to reside in Germany as well as a reduction of barriers regarding the employment of refugees.

The call for a human rights-based and responsible migration policy was initiated by the German Trade Union Confederation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB), by PRO ASYL, and by the Paritätische Gesamtverband. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is one of 293 organizations and association that signed the appeal.