Open letter to the German Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, the Ministers of the Interior of Bavaria, Hessen, Lower Saxony, Schleswig- Holstein, Berlin and Rheinland-Pfalz, Specialists of the CDU, CSU and SPD on domestic policy

Dear Ministers and Senators,

Ladies and gentlemen,

In a vote today you will be deciding on a possible regulation for the right of residence for the approximately 200,000 refugees - among them some 20,000 children and young people - in Germany who are only tolerated here. The decision on the fate of these people is then to be announced at the Conference of Ministers of the Interior in November. The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) appeals urgently to you to give at long last to these people after years of fear and insecurity concerning their status in Germany a decent future and to grant them a permanent right of residence.

We recall that many of those who are at present only tolerated came here because they are victims of genocide, persecution and expulsion, because they had to fear for their lives, wanted to escape torture, cruel punishments or slavery.

Many were the recipients of temporary residence permits which were extended for only a short time (chain temporary permits). Some have had to endure this grinding practice of our authorities for more than ten years. The label "temporary" gives no one a normal life or any possibility of planning things in life. They are kept in suspense, suffer from fear of existence, some become ill either physically or mentally. Finding work for a "temporary person" is practically impossible. Their youngsters can hardly ever begin a training programme. So their dependence which continues year in year out is determined by the payments of the state. They are not allowed to leave the federal province, sometimes not even the borders of their district. The compulsory inactivity drives many into alcoholism and drug addiction and petty crime. This is the beginning of a vicious circle which makes them the objects of open or hidden xenophobia and discrimination.

Even the few who nevertheless manage to keep the family going by a job have no protection from sudden deportation. Even asylum granted in Germany can be rescinded. This was the case for more than 40,000 refugees in Germany last year.

Deportations are carried out late at night or early in the morning. Sometimes only the father of the family is deported in the hope that the wife and children will follow "of their own free will". Young people who attain their majority are faced with the fear that they can be deported individually - to the land of their parents, which is foreign to them, which they may well not remember, about which they know nothing. The have gone to German kindergartens and schools, been members of German sports clubs and had German friends. These children have de facto become ethnic Germans.

However German politics have created a lower class without rights, whose German-speaking "germanified" children are being deported without any training into countries which are completely foreign to them, whose languages they do not speak. They are being driven out of their homeland Germany, where they are not only integrated, but also assimilated in language and culture. With deportations like this the German neighbours and school friends very often react with horror and protest - but often in vain.

Ministers of religion, lawyers, teachers, social workers and other people caring for refugees have often worked for more than a decade at the integration of these children and young people. Is it really to be that this "investment" of countless millions has been spent in vain?

Dear Ministers and Senators, ladies and gentlemen who are experts, it must be possible in Germany as well - and not only in America, Canada or Australia - for people to stay here who have lived here for many years, who have in spite of all obstacles become integrated and for whom Germany was their home. They must at last be given a clear signal that they are welcome.

Please do not set conditions for these people which can hardly be fulfilled - like proof of a job- when it is a matter of a permanent residence permit. Please do not hesitate any longer before using the enthusiasm of these people, their new ideas, their great motivation to start working to let them become part of our society, enjoying equal rights and respect. Germany carries the responsibility for these people and their children.

A clarification of the residence status for these approximately 200,000 refugees has been overdue for many years. We beg you to decide on a generous right of residence for all who have been tolerated for many years..

With such a decision Germany will gain respect in Europe and

beyond.

Yours Truly,

Tilman Zülch

General Secretary