Русская версияMembers of the United Nations Committee for the Eradication of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Friday, Aug.
15, said that they
were concerned about citizenship application questions targeted at
Muslims in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
"The Committee recommends that the Federal Government encourage the
use of questionnaires without discriminatory content, for all
applicants for citizenship," said the committee, according to AFP
news agency.
Baden-Wuerttemberg, home to car maker Daimler's Mercedes Benz,
apparently requires citizens of the 57 member states of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference to answer specific questions
when they apply for German citizenship.
German test also under fire
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Sebastian Edathy wants the citizenship test to be reworked
A nationwide citizenship test that becomes compulsory for
immigrants in and includes questions seeking the applicant's views
on forced marriages and homosexuality has also come under
criticism.
Earlier this week, Sebastian Edathy, the Social Democratic chairman
of the parliament's domestic affairs committee, asked the federal
interior ministry to rework the test, which is made up of 300
potential questions.
Edathy said that many questions had wrong multiple choice answers
that were meant to be correct and that some questions were
completely irrelevant for a citizenship test. Ministry officials
have rejected the claim and said that the test will take effect as
is next month.
The UN committee also described as "regrettable" that many migrants
who have lived in Germany for many years, still failed to get
citizenship.
"Germany should facilitate acquisition of German citizenship by
such long-term residents and persons born in Germany in order to
promote their integration," said the committee.
Growing racism
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German interior minster Wolfgang Schaeuble created the Islam
conference to improve relations
While CERD members applauded Germany for introducing
anti-discrimination legislation two years ago and setting up a
so-called Islam Conference, they also criticized a growing number
of racist incidents in Germany, saying that the federal government
was not doing enough to prevent them. The committee found that
Jews, Muslims, Sinti and Roma as well as African asylum seekers had
been attacked.
German justice ministry officials said that they would study the
comments carefully, but stressed that Germany was "actively
engaged" in implementing EU anti-discrimination laws in Germany.
Germany's national action plan against racism will be presented to
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights later this year.
Lack of integration?
In their report, CERD officials also wondered how Germany wants to
define itself as a "non-multi-ethnic state" as one fifth of the
population has a migrant background and about 8 percent are
foreigners without a German passport.
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Few people with migrant backgrounds have joined Germany's police
pool
CERD asked German officials to tell them whether these groups are
integrated in agencies such as the police. German officials,
according to news reports, countered that the government's policy
was to "integrate, not assimilate" people with a migrant
background.
The anti-racism experts also bemoaned Germany's use of language
when it comes to the law and officials agencies. They also said
that it was unfortunate that German law didn't see racist motives
in connection with crimes as an aggravating factor. CERD said that
foreign victims of violence often receive less compensation money
than Germans.
Sinti and Roma are in an especially bad position, as they are
discriminated against in the work place, in media coverage about
them and when searching for apartments, CERD members said.
The committee also criticized that children of asylum seekers in
the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland did not all
attend school and that many children of migrant families had to
attend special education schools.
(Deutsche Welle)
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