Beorn
07-16-2010, 04:01 PM
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Almost a fifth of people living in Germany have immigrant roots, official figures show.
Some 16million people come from such stock.
Many trace their heritage back to post-war guest workers, drafted in from countries such as Turkey, Yugolsavia and Italy to fill the manpower gap caused by the deaths of five million Third Reich soldiers during the Second World War.
Others trace their roots to ethnic Germans who emigrated to Eastern Europe and were granted citizenship after Germany’s reunification in 1990.
Germany, which has the lowest birthrate in the EU, has allowed in immigrants to boost its workforce. But tensions involving ethnic groups are on the rise.
Germany’s World Cup squad in South Africa was a microcosm of the country’s new diversity.
Eleven of the 23-strong squad would have been classified as foreigners and thus been ineligible to play under citizenship laws repealed only in 1999.
The rules, dating back to 1913 said that only children born in Germany to parents who were both Germans could be considered German.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1294828/20-Germans-foreign-roots.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/14/article-1294828-0A7112A0000005DC-179_468x168.jpg
Almost a fifth of people living in Germany have immigrant roots, official figures show.
Some 16million people come from such stock.
Many trace their heritage back to post-war guest workers, drafted in from countries such as Turkey, Yugolsavia and Italy to fill the manpower gap caused by the deaths of five million Third Reich soldiers during the Second World War.
Others trace their roots to ethnic Germans who emigrated to Eastern Europe and were granted citizenship after Germany’s reunification in 1990.
Germany, which has the lowest birthrate in the EU, has allowed in immigrants to boost its workforce. But tensions involving ethnic groups are on the rise.
Germany’s World Cup squad in South Africa was a microcosm of the country’s new diversity.
Eleven of the 23-strong squad would have been classified as foreigners and thus been ineligible to play under citizenship laws repealed only in 1999.
The rules, dating back to 1913 said that only children born in Germany to parents who were both Germans could be considered German.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1294828/20-Germans-foreign-roots.html)