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