New hurdles for the German passport | Politics | '
1. Germans who were involved in fighting abroad for a terrorist militia in the future, should lose the German passport, if they still have another citizenship.
According to the Federal Government, someone who, for example, joins the Islamic State, shows "that he has turned away from Germany and its fundamental values." With the reform, the Grand Coalition intends to scare off those who want to leave Germany in IS territories as well as IS supporters with a double pass.
The so-called "loss regulation" implements an agreement from the coalition agreement, explicitly refers to combat operations in the future, can not be applied retroactively and does not apply to minors. Alarmed by the high number of German nationals who had joined the terrorist organization in the past, the Federal Government initially wanted to change only this passage in citizenship law.
Stephan Thomae, FDP
The models were Great Britain and Australia, where jihadists can now take the passport. However, Stephan Thomae, Deputy Group Chairman of the FDP, warns "against a race of states, which at first but the own nationality knows and steals from the responsibility."
Filiz Polat, spokeswoman for migration and integration policy in the Greens, fears problems in prosecution: "International crimes and serious violations of human rights of German IS fighters could remain so unpunished." Nationality law is also not the right framework for such acts, but "international criminal law or the German criminal law".
2. Foreigners married to more than one married person are excluded from the acquisition of German citizenship.
Polygamy, ie the marriage with several partners, is forbidden in Germany. The new law wants to avoid crowding through the back door – that is naturalized people who have remarried abroad many times.
Thorsten Frei, CDU
"The Most Normal of the World" is this new passage for Deputy Chairman of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei. "If, as in the case of a marriage, there is a very concrete indication that there was no classification in the German living conditions, then there can be no German passport."
Linda Teuteberg, FDP
Linda Teuteberg, secretary-general of the FDP, also regards plural marriage as incompatible with the values of German society: "Openness must not be confused with arbitrariness." The criticism of Daniel Thym, law professor and expert for migration law in Konstanz, is directed against the fact that the legislator raises problems such as the plural marriage, of which there are only few cases, to "something, which splits the society".
3. Authorities may retract naturalization for a period of ten years instead of five years if false or incomplete information is provided.
According to estimates by the police, less than every third asylum seeker could submit a passport in 2015 as part of the refugee crisis. When sampling from 2016 in some states, numerous fake passports were discovered. Some refugees pretended to be Syrians in recent years to have a better chance of staying there.
"This extension of time is not thought through," complains FDP politician Stephan Thomae anyway, because who applies for German citizenship, have been living in Germany for at least eight years. In addition, the Group Vice-President criticizes: "It is disproportionate to anyone who has become well integrated to deprive himself of such a fundamental position as nationality."
Filiz Polat, Alliance 90 / The Greens
Filiz Polat of the Greens goes even further: "In addition to the constitutional objections to doubling the deadline, it is an unreasonable and disintegrating signal for the naturalized." For ten years all naturalized are only Germans under reserve. "
4. Naturalization is also made dependent on the "classification in German living conditions".
Until now, foreigners have been granted a German passport if they have been able to prove that they have been legally resident for at least eight years, have sufficient language skills and a secure livelihood. The new additional requirement was formulated in relation to the plural marriage, but leaves much room for speculation.
"This formulation signals a clear step backwards", criticized Tarik Tabbara, Professor of Public Law at the University of Economics and Law in Berlin. She recalled "the regulations of the 1950s, in which naturalization should take place only in exceptional cases, if it was in the interest of the state and not a claim of those affected."
Lawyer Tarik Tabbala, Professor of Public Law
The lawyer already sees "a relatively large margin for the authorities in immigration issues." The wording of the classification in German living conditions is "simply a clear signal and the offices will understand it that way". For Tabbara, the reform is "more than just a small stroke of the pen made in nationality law". It even shows "a certain spirit of restrictive politics".
Also Aziz Bozkurt, national chairman of the AG migration and diversity in the SPD, can not understand the inclusion of this passage and referred to him as a "Leitkultur paragraph, which fits the current mood, driven by right-wing populists, fits." On the contrary, Germany must reduce the very high barriers to immigration and cites the example of Canada: "This is an immigration country, in which you can get citizenship after just three years."
Azis Bozkurt, SPD
Bozkurt also considers the timing of the change of law just before the summer break problematic: "There are some politicians who shy away from the discussion and whip up the law in this way." This was already the case with the "Orderly Return Law" by Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. "This is very noticeable and does not do the democratic culture well," says the SPD politician.
Daniel Thym, on the other hand, is surprised by the intense debate over the law. "This is not about a fundamental reorientation of immigration policy," analyzes the lawyer, "as are painted specters on the wall, which found in previous practice no basis." The officials would have no discretion: "The 'classification in German living conditions' is fully judicially verifiable."
Lawyer Daniel Thym from the University of Konstanz
The immigration law expert urges that the new regulations be correctly categorized and explicitly praises the "sensitive" work of the Grand Coalition in this area: "It approaches this topic very objectively, in a concentrated and calm manner, so that it is not in public discourse, for example can be abused by the AfD. " Thyms Conclusion on the Reform of Citizenship Law: "No fuss for nothing!"
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