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Integration Commissioner is pushing for discrimination complaints offices in every federal state

2023-01-11T14:25:53.417Z


According to Minister of State for Integration Reem Alabali-Radovan, CDU leader Merz is fueling "racist resentment" with his statements about the New Year's Eve riots. She demands a lot more support.


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Integration Officer Reem Alabali-Radovan

Photo: IMAGO/Christian Ditsch / IMAGO/epd

Even days after the riots on New Year's Eve, the debate about the proportion of perpetrators with a migration background is being conducted with vehemence - and, according to the Federal Government's Commissioner for Integration, Reem Alabali-Radovan, regrettably time and again with racist prejudices.

She called for the attackers to be "judged by their actions and not by their first names".

The SPD Minister of State accused the Union of stigmatizing people with a history of immigration and their descendants.

The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz again referred to the migration background of many of those arrested in Berlin on Tuesday evening in the ZDF program Markus Lanz in a debate on the riots on New Year's Eve.

»This remark fuels racist resentment«

Merz also denounced the fact that teachers at primary schools experienced verbal violence and disrespect on a daily basis.

It is also about parents who complained when their children were corrected.

Merz spoke with reference to the sons of migrants from small "Paschas" - and was criticized for it in the program.

Alabali-Radovan now said: "This remark fuels racist resentment."

In the situation report she presented on Wednesday, "Racism in Germany: Initial Situation, Fields of Action, Measures," Alabali-Radovan draws a mixed conclusion.

For example, it says: »Diversity has long been reality, but it must also become the norm in all areas«.

Above all, this means equal opportunities for everyone in every area of ​​society.

In order to achieve this, more independent complaints offices should be set up that anyone who has experienced racial discrimination, for example by the police, private landlords or teachers, can turn to.

Report mentions discriminatory job advertisements and loss of trust in the police

Alabali-Radovan announced that she would convene an anti-racism expert council.

This should propose concrete projects and develop a working definition of racism.

As an example of indirect racist discrimination, the report cites job advertisements in which applicants are required to have German language skills at native level, even if this is not required for the job.

"In such a case, the seemingly neutral requirement for language proficiency constitutes an exclusion of immigrants," the report states.

"Despite the exemplary work of many police officers, people affected by racism repeatedly report prejudice and discrimination in their interaction with the police, which lead to a loss of trust," says the status report.

Alabali-Radovan emphasized that discriminatory search methods and controls – so-called racial profiling – are prohibited in Germany.

However, since many people with a migration background reported that they were checked particularly frequently for reasons they could not understand, further studies on this phenomenon were necessary.

According to the commissioner, independent complaints offices are necessary in all federal states

In seven federal states - Bremen, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein - police complaints offices for victims of discrimination have already been set up or are in the process of being set up.

Independent complaints offices should be created in all 16 countries, the commissioner demanded.

In addition, further support services would have to be created for those affected.

Alabali-Radovan took over the newly created office of the federal government's anti-racism commissioner in 2022.

She was born in Moscow, fled Baghdad with her Iraqi parents as a child from the regime of Saddam Hussein and then grew up in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The SPD politician has been a directly elected member of the Bundestag since 2021.

fek/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-01-11

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