AMBASSADOR CALLS ON FEDERAL COMMISSIONER FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001069 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2021 TAGS: PGOV SCUL KISL GM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CALLS ON FEDERAL COMMISSIONER FOR INTEGRATION Classified By: CDA John Cloud. Reason: 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary. German Federal Integration Commissioner Maria Boehmer provided Amb. Timken April 6 with an outline of plans to develop a "National Integration Action Plan" which will focus on promoting language skills, education and employment, women's and human rights, legal adjustments, and social/civic integration. A forthcoming "Integration Summit," however, will apparently not initially include representatives of Muslim/immigrant groups. Boehmer welcomed Embassy outreach efforts to the Muslim community and suggested that integration should be an agenda item in high-level U.S.-German dialogue. End Summary. ¶2. (U) During their introductory meeting on April 6, Federal Commissioner for Integration, Dr. Maria Boehmer, and Amb. Timken discussed Boehmer's views on integration and plans to develop a "national integration action plan." She began with a review of Germany's immigration experience, noting the failure for many years to accept the need to make provisions for the large number of de facto immigrants who had come as guest workers, refugees, and asylum seekers. The fact that half the population of Germany's major cities would have non-German ethnic backgrounds in just four years affirmed the urgency to act. The Grand Coalition had recognized the issue and highlighted it in the Coalition Agreement, Boehmer noted. Chancellor Merkel was also seized with the issue, thus her decision to centralize management of the issue in the Federal Chancellery. ¶3. (C) Boehmer noted that Germans need to change their perspective and recognize that theirs is a country of immigration. She said that she was looking at integration as having five parts: 1) Developing language skills in both children and parents; 2) Ensuring immigrants' education, professional/job qualifications, and access to the labor market; 3) Promoting women's and human rights in the immigrant community; 4) Adjusting legal structures, including rules on permanent status for refugees and asylees and a naturalization process that transmits basic civic and cultural values; and 5) Promoting social and civic integration. While ambitious (Boehmer noted that the religious difference in particular requires much greater civic dialogue),programs were required in all areas for a "national action plan" to succeed. ¶4. (C) Amb. Timken outlined U.S. interest in the questions, describing as well social and economic aspects of the issue in the U.S. He described for Boehmer Embassy efforts to reach out to Germany's Muslim population. He asked to what extent discrimination was a problem in Germany. Boehmer asserted that discrimination was not a major issue and that the anti-discrimination law now being drafted would be an effective solution to incidents that do occur. (Note: In an aside as the Amb. was departing, Boehmer's Personal Assistant noted that discussing discrimination was "a bit taboo" in Germany.) Boehmer welcomed the Embassy's dialogue with immigrant/Muslim groups and proposed that a discussion of integration should become a regular part of high-level U.S.-German meetings, just as it is on the Franco-German agenda. ¶5. (C) In describing further the German approach to integration Boehmer laid particular stress on integrating migrants into the German cultural community. Amb. Timken noted that this was not a key priority in the U.S., where more emphasis was placed on practical factors such as learning English and entering the job market. He asked whether a cultural definition of integration might not give the word a burdensome meaning to many immigrants. Boehmer insisted that Germany did not seek assimilation, but that cultural education was necessary to understanding and respect. She agreed that education and employment were also key issues and noted that she would be meeting with business leaders from both the ethnic German and immigrant backgrounds to discuss how to expand access to the labor market. ¶6. (C) The Ambassador asked about plans to include Muslim organizations in the proposed "Integration Summit" (septel). She confirmed that the Chancellor would convene such a summit, but said that at this early stage it would not involve Muslim groups. Eventually it would be expanded to include representative of all important social groups, including the churches, labor unions, business groups, Muslim groups, and other civil society representatives. She also stressed her recognition that dialogue at the Summit would only be meaningful when translated into action at the community level. She also deplored the political use made by some politicians of the issue and their calculation that more votes might be won by criticizing immigrants than by taking integration seriously. BERLIN 00001069 002 OF 002 ¶7. (C) Comment: Boehmer's claim that discrimination is not a significant factor in Germany seems unsustainable in light of the significant amounts of anti-foreigner violence, propaganda, and politicking and frequent stories of social discrimination. Moreover, the unwillingness to include Muslim groups at an early stage in a discussion about how to integrate them seems indicative of the German polity's unwillingness to accord these groups the full recognition which German politicians (including Boehmer) say must be accorded to immigrants as persons. Boehmer's initiative of speaking with possible employers to ease the unemployment situation among immigrants is well-intended, but will come up quickly against the fact that German unemployment is over ten percent. End Comment. TIMKEN JR