Migrants in Germany should receive the same rights as EU citizens, demands the umbrella organization of the municipal integration advisory councils. He wants to enforce a municipal suffrage for foreigners living permanently in Germany - for this the Basic Law would have to be changed. This is already the practice in more than half of the EU countries, said the chairman of the Federal Migration and Integration Council (BZI), Lajos Fischer, at a symposium of his organization in Erfurt.
Municipal suffrage should apply to people with a migrant background who spend more than three years in Germany. "They live in the municipalities, pay taxes, educate their children here and are not allowed to take part," criticized Fischer.
The BZI also called for the facilitation of multiple nationalities and nationwide, state-funded anti-discrimination offices in order to fight racism consistently.
East is ten times more dangerous for refugees than the rest of Germany
In Erfurt, the BZI also discussed the prospects of migrants in the East. According to surveys, eastern Germany is ten times more dangerous for refugees than the rest of the country, Fischer said. However, in the East, only five percent of people with a migration background lived in the Federal Republic.
All the more important is the work of the local Integration Advisory Councils. They are under greater pressure in the East as they have less money and full-time staff than in the West.
The BZI is the nationwide association of the national organizations of municipal integration, migration and foreigners' councils.