Persons with a migration background in the Bundeswehr

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People with a migration background form part of the military personnel of the Bundeswehr .

numbers

The definitions on which the term “with a migration background ” is based changed in 2005, 2011 and 2016 in Germany. Unless otherwise stated, the information in this article relates to the 2016 definition, according to which a person has a migration background if at least one parent was not born with German citizenship.

There is different information about the exact number of soldiers with a migrant family history. These are between 13% and 26%. The proportion is lower for higher ranks. The majority of soldiers with a migration background come from Russian-German families. For comparison: 23% of the resident population in Germany have a migration background (as of 2018).

It is assumed that a large proportion of the people with a migration background who have joined the Bundeswehr since the reform of the nationality law are of Muslim faith. However, the indication of non-Christian religious affiliation when joining the Bundeswehr is voluntary, so that no exact figures are known. Among the 180,000 soldiers in 2019, the Ministry of Defense estimates the number of Muslims at around 3,000. The German Islam Conference (DIK) estimates their number at around 1,500.

development

Since the 1990s, the proportion of soldiers with a migration background (according to the definition at the time) has increased due to immigration from the CIS states. Since then, the number of naturalized people who signed up as temporary soldiers and received the status of trainers and superiors has also increased.

After the reform of the naturalization law, people born or raised in Germany were given the opportunity to take on German citizenship. At that time, these Germans with a migration background, like every male German, were obliged to “serve in arms” as part of compulsory military service. The decisive factor was German citizenship, regardless of whether another citizenship was present.

In 2011, conscription was suspended.

In the mid-2000s, the Federal Republic and Turkey had agreed that a young man who was serving as a conscript in Germany would no longer be drafted into the Turkish army. This regulation became ineffective with the abolition of conscription. In order to win more German-Turks for the Bundeswehr, Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière wanted to persuade the Turkish government in Ankara to also exempt voluntary Bundeswehr soldiers with dual citizenship from military service in Turkey.

In 2019, Federal Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen declared the involvement of soldiers with a Muslim background in foreign missions of the Bundeswehr indispensable: "With their language and culture skills, they make it easier for us to access the respective population." According to von der Leyen, 15% of all employees in the Bundeswehr had one Migration background, including with Turkish, African, Arab and especially Russian-German descent.

Association of German Soldiers eV

The Verein Deutscher Soldat eV ( own spelling Deutscher.Soldat ), founded in 2010, aims to promote a positive self-image of migration and integration. The background to the founding of the association were controversial remarks by Thilo Sarazin about an " unwillingness or ability to integrate" of immigrants. One wants to show that this picture "does not correspond to reality". The association sees the Bundeswehr as a place where integration is actively lived and calls for Muslim military chaplaincy.

The association has 130 members across Germany and is a member of the "New German Organizations" network. The chairwoman of the board, Nariman Hammouti-Reinke , took part in the 10th National Integration Summit on June 13, 2018 in the Federal Chancellery .

Plans for the recruitment of Bundeswehr soldiers without German citizenship

According to Art. 37 para. 1 no. 1 SG must "in the appointment of a professional soldier or a soldier on time [...] only be appointed who German within the meaning of Article 116 of the Basic Law (GG)." Although, under Art. 37 para. 2 SG the Federal Ministry of Defense allow exceptions to this rule in individual cases if there is an official need, but such an exception has almost never been made. In 2014 a non-German was recruited for the first time: a Romanian with a doctorate in medicine became a temporary soldier in the medical service of the Bundeswehr. In fact, almost only Germans serve in the Bundeswehr. In contrast to Germany, it is common practice in some other countries to recruit foreigners into the armed forces.

In 2018, the Ministry of Defense announced plans to allow EU foreigners to serve in the force in order to make up for the lack of qualified applicants. The first ideas for this were already laid down in the 2016 White Paper on Security Policy . The idea of ​​offering foreign recruits a German passport in return for joining the Bundeswehr sparked a political discussion. This is justified by the fact that the German Soldiers Act presupposes a special relationship of loyalty between the state and the soldier. It is critically noted that applicants should not take up the service as in mercenary armies ( Foreign Legion ) in order to obtain citizenship.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jochen Gaugele and Miguel Sanches: CDU politician Henning Otte warns against accepting foreigners in the Bundeswehr. July 23, 2018, accessed June 27, 2019 (German).
  2. ↑ a b FAZ: Every fourth ordinary soldier has a migration background . July 3, 2016, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed June 28, 2019]).
  3. ↑ BT-Drs. 19/10428 of May 23, 2019, Multicultural and multireligious identity of the Bundeswehr 2019 . Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from the MPs Filiz Polat, Dr. Tobias Lindner, Agnieszka Brugger, other MPs and the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN. P. 1.
  4. ^ A b Fabian Virchow: Against civilism: International relations and the military in the political conceptions of the extreme right . Springer-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-90365-1 . P. 410 .
  5. ↑ Said Aldailami: Muslims in the armed forces . In: Havva Engin, Mathias Rohe, Mouhanad Khorchide, Ümer Öszoy, Hansjörg Schmid: Handbook Christianity and Islam in Germany: Experiences, Basics and Perspectives in Living Together , Verlag Herder, 2014, ISBN 978-3-451-80272-0 .
  6. ↑ Military rabbis to support the Bundeswehr , Der Spiegel, April 2, 2019. Accessed June 29, 2019.
  7. ↑ BT-Drs. 19/10428 of May 23, 2019, Multicultural and multireligious identity of the Bundeswehr 2019 . Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from the MPs Filiz Polat, Dr. Tobias Lindner, Agnieszka Brugger, other MPs and the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN. P. 2.
  8. ↑ Hans-Joachim Reeb, Peter Többicke: Lexicon of Inner Leadership: An overview of all aspects of Inner Leadership . Walhalla Digital, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8029-0828-6 . Pp. 236-237 .
  9. ^ De Maizière on a mission in Ankara: More German-Turks for the Bundeswehr. In: Focus online. June 20, 2012, accessed July 7, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Von der Leyen: Muslims in the Bundeswehr are indispensable for deployments abroad. In: www.dw.com. September 17, 2016, accessed July 7, 2019 .
  11. ^ German soldier . eV - Home. Retrieved June 28, 2019 .
  12. ↑ a b German soldier . eV - origin. Retrieved June 28, 2019 .
  13. ^ Daniel Bax: First lieutenant on migrants in uniform: "The Bundeswehr is colorful today" . In: The daily newspaper: taz . February 27, 2013, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed June 27, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Ronja von Wurmb-Seibel: Integration: A proud German. In: The time. December 27, 2012, ISSN 0044-2070 (zeit.de [accessed October 1, 2019]).
  15. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Imams for the Bundeswehr? | DW | 02/10/2019. Retrieved on October 3, 2019 (German).
  16. ↑ List of participants for the 10th National Integration Summit on June 13, 2018 in the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. Retrieved October 3, 2019 .
  17. ↑ new german organizations: the network | About us. Retrieved October 3, 2019 .
  18. ↑ On the possibility of military service by foreigners in the armed forces of selected countries: legal basis, conditions for employment, number. In: WD 2 - 3000 - 115/16. German Bundestag, 2016, accessed on June 1, 2019 . P. 4.
  19. ↑ Who can serve in the armies of this world? In: www.dw.com. December 27, 2018, accessed July 1, 2019 .
  20. ↑ On the possibility of military service by foreigners in the armed forces of selected countries: legal basis, conditions for employment, number. In: WD 2 - 3000 - 115/16. German Bundestag, 2016, accessed on June 1, 2019 . P. 23.
  21. ^ Matthias Schiermeyer: Integration in the Bundeswehr: More diversity for the troops. In: Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de. August 6, 2018, accessed June 27, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Shortage of soldiers: Bundeswehr is considering accepting foreigners due to staff shortages. July 21, 2018, accessed July 7, 2019 .