Conditions of immigration and inclusion in East Germany—a review

Abstract

It is not only the case that new immigration and transit countries have emerged in recent years within Europe. Also within states with existing migration histories, target regions have become differentiated and migrants have reached places that previously have had but little experience of inter-cultural living. Discussion of the issues related to growing ethnic-cultural diversity in Germany focuses primarily on the western federal states, and particularly on large cities within them. Nonetheless, in recent years new clusters of international immigration have emerged in the eastern German states, even if they appear small in comparison to the traditional target regions. The majority of these clusters are established by the deliberate distribution throughout the country of new immigrants, particularly of asylum seekers and, especially in the past, of ethnic German immigrants from Eastern Europe and of Jewish quota refugees. The patterns of immigration, integration and social-spatial segregation differ not only from those in the western federal states but are also themselves extremely diverse. Against the background of the substantial neglect of East German states in migration research and political concepts about inter-cultural living, this paper aims to provide a summarising overview of the results of existing studies.