BERLIN -- Germany, ever in angst over questions of immigration and national identity, is now wringing its hands over whether to write into law the concept of second-class citizenship for some foreigners.
In what seems to be a case of good intentions led astray by compromise, the coalition government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl has transformed a proposal to liberalize citizenship laws into something resembling an awkward gesture of condescension.
German-born children of foreigners would be offered a "trial citizenship" entitling them to a German passport, instead of having to wait until age 16 as they do now.
But -- and here's the rub -- like all other immigrants they would still be subject to expulsion along the way. And upon reaching age 18, they could lose their chance for full citizenship by ending up on welfare, committing a crime or refusing to renounce their original nationality.
"It is absolutely idiotic," said Sabine Kriechhammer-Yagmur, head of the German Association of Bi-National Families. "Saying someone is 'a little bit German' is like saying someone is 'a little bit pregnant.' The new regulation is a step backward, not forward."
'The wrong message'
"It is the wrong message," agreed Barbara John, a Berlin state senator and director of Berlin's office of immigrant affairs. "It says, 'We will give you the same papers as a German, but you still aren't really a German. You are still a foreigner.' "
Isamel Arslan, a Turkish cafe owner in Berlin who has lived in Germany for 20 years, was even more blunt in his assessment.
"They are very stubborn about this German nationality stuff," he said. "They still have the mentality like in Hitler's times. And even if Turkish people would have a German passport, they would still be foreigners to most of the people here."
Ms. John said Germany ranks "in the bottom third of Europe" in how easy it is for foreigners to become citizens. And that's after accounting for the reforms of 1991, which came only after lawmakers made it tougher for refugees and asylum-seekers to enter the country.
Foreigners not born in Germany generally must wait 15 years to become citizens, unless they're between the ages of 16 and 23, in which case they need eight years residence (six of which must have been spent in school).
But Germany's biggest departure from Europe is its continued refusal to accept dual citizenship, a concept already accepted in Britain, France, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Law Professor Werner Teuber said that reflects a deep-seated apprehension about foreigners.
"There is still this background idea that you must be of the same VTC origin to be a German," said Mr. Teuber, an authority on immigration law. "And it is still very much unknown to the Germans that you might be proud of your cultural roots [in another country] and still be a good German citizen. That is why you never hear someone here called a 'Turkish-German' in the way that someone is called an 'Italian-American.' Someone is either Turkish or German."
This means that Turks (Germany's largest ethnic minority) who wish to become German citizens have to give up their Turkish passports, making it more difficult for them to own property or run businesses in their home country. Most Turks get around this requirement by reacquiring Turkish passports at consular offices outside Germany, although officially it is not allowed.
The current proposal began as an idea to grant citizenship to German-born immigrants after five years, while allowing dual citizenships. Conservative opposition by the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, one of the three parties in Mr. Kohl's governing coalition, helped weaken the proposal to its present form.
The citizenship issue has never been easy to discuss in postwar Germany. Besides the attitudes cited by Mr. Teuber, there is the potential for international embarrassment. Some non-Germans inevitably see the rigid laws as an outgrowth of the concepts of Aryan superiority that led to the Nazi horrors of World War II.
Germans say the attitudes go back further, to the 1870s, when "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck instilled nationalist feelings by unifying the German states.
"Bismarck set the tone for the future when Germany defined itself as a nation of the same ethnic origin," Mr. Teuber said. "So it was said that a citizen could only be someone of German origins, whatever that might be. . . . The Nazis just carried on what already existed."
'Xenophobia' cited
Willi Paul Adams, an immigration historian at the Free University of Berlin, thinks there's a simpler explanation. "It is xenophobia, a rather primitive and crude form," he said. "I don't believe in these long and involved explanations that reach back into the last century. It's an attitude that says, 'Treat them [foreigners] badly and they'll go away.' "
But Mr. Adams finds the proposal a step in the right direction. "Even this is a step against the logic of the old system," he said, "and it will encourage the political progressives of both parties to keep pushing."
Some foreigners in Germany say it matters little whether the law changes, as long as public attitudes remain the same. Even Turks who have become citizens are sometimes the victims of anti-foreigner violence, simply because they look different.
The proposal is expected to get fairly quick action, but the Bundestag often becomes bogged down on such topics when they attract a lot of critical discussion.