Intercultural Communication In Germany

1421 Words6 Pages
Michael Ruf Karawaci, 30.09.2011 Intercultural Communication Class Universitas Pelita Harapan The case Sarrazin, integration debates and intercultural communication in Germany – an Essay. Germany has always been and still is a society with a considerable rate of immigration. The resulting high number of ethnic groups and cultural diversity demand elaborated immigration laws on the one hand, but on the other hand intercultural competence is also essential to live together in harmony. Former banker and politician Thilo Sarrazin’s book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany Does Itself In) provoked and insulted Muslim immigrants and started a huge debate about integration and immigration problems. Within this debate, important aspects concerning intercultural communication have widely been neglected. Therefore, with this essay, I want to point out failures of intercultural communication within immigration debates. Integration of immigrants in Germany Immigration continues to be a concern of both economic and social importance. Together with the enactment of a new set of immigration laws, integration of migrants has become a main focus of official federal policy. By virtue of language courses and courses on culture, politics, and society, which are largely state-financed, integration of new migrants is regulated, in some specified cases, participation in such courses is compulsory. Furthermore the new law provides for fewer formalities and more options for highly skilled third-country nationals to enter the country working there. Despite these efforts, new immigrants face prejudices and have problems integrating with the native population and often segment into separate communities. Especially immigrants from Turkey, the second biggest immigrant group in Germany after ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, are poorly
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