A Humble Proposal for Handling Muslim Immigrants in Germany - Essay Example

A Humble Proposal for Handling Muslim Immigrants in Germany Germany was not rebuilt by its native citizens only, and that miraculous economic upsurge of the postwar years was insured by the immigration boom bringing thousands of foreigners as labor force. The country owes much of its 13 million population increase to immigrants (Münz & Ulrich). And Muslim immigrants constitute a lion’s share of the precious working force that has been supporting Germany’s economic supremacy in the EU for all these years. The given paper will prove that Muslims suffer from outrageous discrimination and oppression in German society, which is the blatant violation of human rights established by some United Nations conventions, and propose a solution to the problem basing on German laws. We cannot overlook the fact that compared to other European countries, Germany provides relatively wide range of opportunities for immigrants’ employment, but Muslim immigrants face barriers in employment related to their religion and ethnicity, which endangers their welfare and ability to earn their living in the host country (Muehe 21). German employers show profound bias in their policy, because they would rather prefer to hire a German than an immigrant worker. This unfair policy seems controversial, for “since the 1990s, analysts have pointed to Germany's ongoing need for immigrants to bolster economic development and maintain a dynamic workforce, given the rapid aging of the country's population” (Oezcan). In other words, do not Muslim workers deserve equal employment prospects after all they have done for Germany? Moreover, Muslims experience vast cultural and religious discrimination in German environment, which gradually forces them to integrate and assimilate via various sadistic language courses and governmental integration programs. German government first admits Muslim immigrants into the country and then considers five or six million of them a problem that needs to be handled. Muslims experience blatant rejection of their religion and are virtually forced to hide their Islamic centers in unmarked buildings on the outskirts of the cities (Brenner), and the number of mosques in Germany is unbelievably small: Berlin, the great capital if this tolerant state hosts only four big mosques! Muslims are violently persecuted by anti-fundamentalist activists of German descent: for instance, peaceful Salafists, who were earlier seen on their noble mission of patrolling German cities’ neighborhoods, are constantly attacked by Germans. On the other hand, German government does no legislative attempts to protect Islam believers, while it extensively supports radical Islamic groups in Syria. “While some individual politicians with cultural Muslim backgrounds can be found even at high levels of the political parties, only a very few immigrants who see themselves as Muslims and identify with religious Muslims’ interests are present on the political stage. As yet the needs of the Muslim communities have not been recognised by Germany’s political parties and very few Muslims are members of these parties. This very limited political represention of Muslims in Germany can be attributed to their poor levels of academic attainment and lack of citizenship rights, as well as to discrimination” (Mühe 9). What I would like to suggest is restoration of justice for Muslims and evening the cultural and ethnic landscape of Germany, because it is inacceptable that immigrants of Muslim descent are discriminated and deprived of elementary rights in this host country that owes them its recovery after the World War II. The problem of Muslim immigrants should be solved as soon as possible by means of corresponding laws which will regulate the issue, because mass oppression might lead to further escalation of conflicts and rallies demanding better life for immigrants. “Given the very limited political representation of Muslims in Germany, Muslim organisations play a crucial role in representing Muslims’ interests, and in the area of participation and the claiming of minority rights. As this claiming of rights has only begun recently, resistance in the majority society is still strong” (Mühe 50). German government on the federal level should consider creating a law that grants more rights and freedoms to immigrants, including the Turks and all people of Arabic origins. Well, it is hard to deny that – in order to function as full-fledged members of society, Muslims need to have the same set of opportunities as natives do – this is the only reasonable way to ensure further prosperity of the country. By the way, who cares about the pureness of blood nowadays? Well, globalization gives us many fruits including expansion of market borders and wide cultural cooperation and exchange, so there should be no obstacles on the way of becoming a citizen for a Muslim. If the government issues a bill obliging employers to hire Muslims on equal conditions with German citizens and equal salaries, immigrants will be able to go beyond the poverty line and persist above it on constant basis. Of course, the proportion of unemployment between immigrants and citizens might shift, but it will be compensated by the fact that only qualified employees will work for the sake of German economy. As preservation of religious authenticity is also crucial, the legislation must protect Muslim’s rights for religious meetings and encourage building of mosques across the country; it is important for making the immigrants feel more comfortable – recreating their native environment in hospitable and welcoming Germany, the land of tolerance and cultural diversity. As a major milestone of the way of the problem solution, the need to introduce Muslims to German legislative bodies arises. Considering the number of Muslim immigrants in relation to the overall population numbers, one can hardly deny that such a big ethnic/religious group needs to be represented properly in the Bundestag, for its interests must be protected properly. I would modestly suggest establishing, say, 10% of Bundestag seats intended for representatives of immigrants and Muslims in particular, so that they could represent their interests and influence legislation projects. Wouldn’t it be nice if a respectable fundamentalist Muslim politician protected interests of his (yes, this would definitely be a man, for women Islamic women aren’t accepted in such supreme fields as politics) ethnic group and – at the same time – prevented free Western society from corruption? Moreover, government officials will be able to protect immigrants’ right to preserve their own language and ethnic identity instead of being forcefully integrated into German environment. Education system should be altered and reformed in order to insure cultural exchange between natives and Muslim immigrants. German children should be given an opportunity to interact with representatives of Islamic group more often. Some would object to this humble proposl supporting their opinion with the fact that immigrants from Muslim countries might thereby suppress native citizens of Germany, but the argument I would operate is that such solution will pacify this rather large ethnic minority and prevent the country from political and ideological conflicts. Moreover, the government will get benefit from fostering Muslims in German soil – the latter will definitely get regular jobs and will not need financial aid from the state anymore, as they create an enormous bulk of labor force that can still be very useful for economic purposes and Germany’s leadership in the global market of export. Germany should admit and embrace the new cultural and ethnic background forming in its territory instead of being under the thumb of far rightists. Tolerance in the attribute of the age of globalization, therefore, why should old Europe resist new tendencies in its development, the more so since any type of Islamic doctrine does not pose any threat for Europeans? Works Cited Brenner, Yermi. ‘German Muslims speak in face of anti-immigrant movement’. Aljazeera America, 2015. From: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/14/germanya-s-muslimsfaceantiimmigrantmovementsmomentum.html Mühe, Nina. ‘Muslims in the EU: Cities Report’. Open Society Institute: EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program, 2007. From: http://www.thegreatdebate.eu/pdf/Muslims%20in%20Germany/eumap%20muslims%20in%20%20germany.pdf Münz, Rainer & Ulrich, Ralf E. ‘Changing Patterns of Immigration to Germany, 1945-1997’, 2004. From: https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rs/more.php?id=69 Oezcan, Veysel. ‘Germany: Immigration in Transition’. Migration Policy Institute, 2014. From: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/germany-immigration-transition Read More