TRANSFORMING ROSTOCK: FROM XENOPHOBIC RIOTS TO INTEGRATION

UNCLAS HAMBURG 000041 DEPT FOR EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GM SUBJECT: TRANSFORMING ROSTOCK: FROM XENOPHOBIC RIOTS TO INTEGRATION ROLE MODEL SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: For an Eastern German city that was in the global headlines sixteen years ago for a neo-Nazi attack on asylum-seekers, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's (M-V) largest city Rostock has made extraordinary strides in its integration efforts. The city has taken an organized approach, clearly designating competencies among federal, state, and community programming in order to avoid competition or duplication. Despite budget strains, Rostock city officials have placed a priority on integration efforts and continue to provide the necessary funding. In addition, the city has a remarkably dedicated group of people working on this issue. The state plans to use Rostock's experience in integration as a role model in implementing similar practices throughout M-V. This cable provides a snap-shot of RostQ as an integration success-story. END SUMMARY. Rostock 1992 - Ground Zero for Xenophobia -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Rostock is located on the Baltic in former Eastern Germany and has a long tradition as a port city reaching back to the Hanseatic League. Until recently, the city was probably best known for the August 1992 xenophobic riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen. At the time, several hundred right-wing extremists, accompanied by more than 3,000 applauding bystanders, attacked a building filled with approximately 120 asylum-seekers, sending media shock waves throughout the world. (Note: At the time Rostock served as M-V's central processing office for asylum-seekers. Approximately 1,000 asylum-seekers arrived per month. Just prior to the attacks roughly 400 asylum-seekers were evacuated. However, 120 Vietnamese and journalists remained in the building. End Note.) The city's approach towards integration challenges has changed significantly since then, and has become a model for other German communities. Today, Rostock's immigrant population is still rather small. In 2007, 11,540 immigrants (7,540 foreigners, 4,000 ethnic German immigrants) lived in this city of approximately 200,000. The city's integration efforts are targeted at "migrants," defined as all foreigners and naturalized persons who permanently live in Germany. Efforts include working with ethnic German immigrants from the successor states of the former Soviet Union ("Spdtaussiedler"). Rostock's 2008 Recipe for Success in Integration -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Dr. Ahmed Maher Fakhouri, Chairman of the NGO Migra and the Islamic Federation in Rostock and a 2007 IVLP participant, highlighted recently to the Consulate why Rostock has succeeded in transforming itself from an immigrant-hostile to an immigrant-friendly community. He singled out four main reasons for Rostock's success. First, he pointed to the dedication and efficacy of Rostock's Integration Commissioner Dr. Wolfgang Richter. Richter's position was established in 1991 and he oversees the municipal network of government entities and NGOs providing integration-relevant services. Second, Fakhouri noted that Rostock is the only city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which has a Foreigner Advisory Committee. The committee has existed since 1992 and was established as a result of the riots. It is a semi-communal institution comprised of eight registered associations that work in the integration field. The committee elects its representatives and conducts meetings on a regular basis and basically serves as the official representative of immigrants in the city. Rostock provides budgetary support to the committee by covering personnel costs for a part-time position. The third factor that has contributed to Rostock's success, Fakhouri explained, is that recent immigrants are not placed in a "ghetto" within Rostock but are integrated throughout the city into its various neighborhoods. ¶4. (U) Finally, Fakhouri stressed that the federal, state and communal counseling centers have complemented one another in their work. Representatives from these centers meet quarterly to exchange ideas and coordinate on the most efficient approaches to integration. As one of the differentiating factors of Rostock's integration efforts, Fakhouri pointed out that there is a dense network of NGOs which, rather than attempting to provide the full range of services and duplicating work, are very specialized. For example, Fakhouri's NGO, Migra, is dedicated solely to language and professional qualification in Rostock. However, Migra also works on a federal project on how to optimize counseling migrants and was recently tasked to devise an integration course. The integration NGO Dien Hong, which focuses on Vietnamese immigrants, was also founded in 1992 as a result of the riots. There are three Integration Specialist Service Migration (IFDM) Centers throughout M-V which were created in 2002 and solely specialize in providing professional development for immigrants. These centers emanated from Dien Hong and are mainly financed by the M-V Social Ministry. The Rostock IFDM was the pilot for this program, underscoring the city's lead role in integration. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: The positive light in which Fakhouri presented Rostock's integration efforts sharply contrasts witQ the 1992 xenophobic riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, which were the most extreme in Germany's post-war history. The city has learned from that dramatic event and has since implemented best practices that are being duplicated state-wide. The city's success lies in its cooperative operating style and effective communication, which exists, not only among federal, state, and local integration actors, but also between NGOs and government. Fakhouri complimented officials on their open-mindedness and willingness to cooperate. According to Fakhouri, "The city is bankrupt but continues to fund positions for migrant work. This is noteworthy." Rostock's dedication to integration is not commonplace in the state of M-V, as demonstrated by (state capital) Schwerin, which has cut positions for financial reasons. END COMMENT. ¶6. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. JOHNSON