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Foreigners’ Frankfurt: a model for integration?
By Azra Jafferjee, our special correspondent in Germany

In a recent issue, The Economist began an article on immigration in Germany with a quote from Sigmund Freud: "Hysteria has its roots in personal issues which are long suppressed". Whether Germany suffers from the same 'denial' afflicting its neighbours is a subject of debate, but the hot issue of immigration is by no means a non-topic in this country of over 7.3 million (8.9% of the total population) immigrants.

Turn on the television and in any given week there is bound to be a talk show with migration as its central theme, and amidst racial riots throughout continental Europe, furore in the US over plans to stem the tide of migrants from the south, Germany, seems almost a relative oasis of calm.

But in true German style, is it a case of a lot of discussion but little action? At the federal level, apart from recent steps such as the appointment by the new coalition of a Minister for Integration, and an Immigration Law in 2005, there seems to be more paper pushing than proactive action in facing up to its changing landscape.

At the local level, however, one example worth taking a look at is that of Frankfurt, the nations' business and financial hub and its most 'international' city; about 26% of the city's 654,000 residents are of non-Germans, while another 7% hold dual citizenship and some 45% have a migrant background. Combining policies to prevent ghettoisation, promotion of language courses and projects to promote multicultural activities, the city of Frankfurt began relatively early to face up to its multi-cultural makeup.

Among these was the so-called Frankfurt Treaty' introduced in the 1970s to prevent the formation of ghettos by specifying quotas for city's quarters; these included a mix of nationalities as well as social and income groups, and was implemented by the housing allocations made by the public housing body. As one Moroccan resident in Frankfurt described, "when I applied for housing in high immigrant neighbourhood my application was rejected. Then my girlfriend, who is German applied, her application was immediately approved".

A look at the numbers, does, however point to some degree of concentration. Only one quarter, and one with a low population of 2,000 a 60% share. Among the more populated areas of 'Gallusviertel' and Hoechst the share of foreigners stands at around 48% and 39% respectively. Yet, no one group forms an overwhelming proportion. In Gallusviertel, for instance, ex-Yugoslavian residents form 25% and Turkish 21% and in Hoechst Turkish and Italians make up 20% and 11% respectively. Compared with areas in Berlin, where some groups form over 50% of the migrant population, the high-density migrant neighbourhoods come across as comparatively heterogeneous.

Another telling indicator of migrant integration is relative social standards compared with the host population. Take for instance unemployment. In Frankfurt, where average unemployment was at around 11.5% in 2005 (compared with a national average of 12.1%), the high-density migrant neighbourhoods reported similar unemployment levels. In Gallusviertel the unemployment rate for foreigners was around 8.5% compared with 10.5% for the resident German population. This, compared to a national unemployment average for immigrants of 26% is not doing too badly.

Such relatively benign statistics can of course belie a bleaker picture. As Hassan Mazeh, Lebanese-born immigrant who came as a student to Germany 16 years ago, points out, migrants are more likely to take on the so-called 'one Euro jobs' (per hour) now compulsory by the state for the long term unemployed, while the Germans would turn their nose up at it. A look at the composition of employees of the FES, the garbage disposal authority, reveals an almost exclusively foreign picture.

However, he agrees that Frankfurt has certain factors in its favour such as the absence of the kind of ghettoes seen in Berlin or in Paris, which led to the riots late last year and the relative heterogeneity of the migrant population: Of the 165,000 or so persons holding foreign passports, the three largest groups are residents of former Yugoslavia (19.3%) and Turkey (19.1) and Italy (8.8%). The remainder comprises Europeans (mostly eastern), Asians (central, eastern and southern), Africans and largely southern Americans.

This also poses challenges for Mr. Mazeh's efforts to get groups to vote in the special communal elections for foreigners (KAV), that takes place once every four years. As representative of the 'Immi Grun' immigrant party, he is more than unhappy about the 5.7% turnout in last November's election. As he admits, "the politicians don't need us and neither do the migrants!" While the KAV has no legislative powers, it acts as an advisory group to the locally-elected bodies on migrant issues. His group is pushing for the inclusion of foreign voters in the general local elections, although it remains a slim probability for the moment.

So, is Frankfurt a special case or can there be lessons to be drawn for other cities with a high proportion of migrants? Helga Nagel, Director of the Department of Multicultural Affairs (AmkA), believes it to be a combination of deliberate policies helped by the city's very special past. In 2000, five years before the federal government adopted it at national level, Frankfurt introduced subsidised language courses for foreign residents coming with a view for long-term stay. Earlier on, in 1989, Frankfurt was the first city to set up a special department for multi-culture, which supported projects with immigrant organisation, including special programmes with the police and public servants.

Ms. Nagel admits though, that Frankfurt's historic reputation as a 'trading city' helps to blend with foreigners. As one of the most important centres of trading and trade fairs north of the Alps since the middle ages, Frankfurt's character is very much defined by its transient population. In Frankfurt, even the so-called 'native' Germans are rarely Frankfurters. Everybody who lives here is a Frankfurter. Being the centre of the banking and financial industry in Germany, Frankfurt has also attracted more skilled entrants as compared to other cities such as Berlin which received a disproportionate share of the so-called 'guest workers' mainly from Turkey.

One ultimate success indicator is the role of the German language. Here, the language programmes run by AmkA since 2000 will play a crucial role in the future. While at present she is unclear of the impact of these programmes, new laws such as the Immigration Law of 2005 which places language literacy as an important factor for naturalisation, will inevitably have a bearing on success ful outcomes.

In the end, as migration specialist described in the 'Financial Times' recently, "it's not the numbers that count but whether there are jobs for them…and whether they can be socially integrated".

Hassan Mazeh agrees. "Any meaningful debate can take place only under improved economic conditions. At the moment there is a bad atmosphere because of high unemployment. Migration implies more pressure on the job market which is not producing enough jobs even for the 'native' population".

Be that as it may, the shrinking demography may compel Europe, not least Germany with its collapsing population growth (negative since 2004) to more proactively take up this hot potato, and it could be that Frankfurt may hold some lessons in this.