Bonn Moves to Stem Flood of East Germans

The West German government announced Tuesday that, in hopes of discouraging would-be immigrants, it will crack down on benefits extended to East Germans moving to the federal republic.

Most of the benefits will be withdrawn July 1, the government said. But Bonn officials added that the government expects the weak East German ostmark to be replaced by the West German deutschemark this summer--under terms favorable for millions of East Germans now worried about the future value of their savings.

They said that West Germany expects to agree on a currency union with East Germany by May 1, although they did not spell out how that would be achieved.

Such a step would presumably remove the pressure that many East Germans feel to resettle in West Germany as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that to discourage would-be East German immigrants, Bonn will ask Parliament to repeal a 1950 law setting up the benefits program under which 4.5 million people have been resettled in West Germany.

Schaeuble declared that currency union would bring with it economic and social union, thus making East Germany a much more desirable place to live until full German reunification.

“With these measures,” Schaeuble said, “the need for a reception procedure will disappear.”

Schaeuble said West Germany wants to send a “psychological signal” to East Germans thinking about moving to the West and that it is possible those who had already come over would be encouraged to return voluntarily.

He also said that the dozens of reception camps in West Germany that temporarily house incoming East Germans will be closed by July 1. At that time, East German immigrants will no longer receive the immediate cash gift of $120 or be eligible for loans of up to $2,400. Instead, they will be treated the same as West Germans who move inside the country.

The settlers will still be allowed “assimilation money” of about $600, since that one-time payment, introduced in January, is considered less expensive than alternative health and unemployment benefits. East Germans settlers already receiving social assistance apparently won’t be affected.

About 344,000 East Germans looking for freedom and a better life moved to the federal republic last year after first Hungary and then Czechoslovakia opened their borders with the West, sparking an exodus that led to an economic crisis in East Germany. That crisis in turn brought down the hard-line Communist regime.

About 145,000 East Germans have already arrived this year, a rate of more than 1,800 a day. But West German officials said Tuesday that in the 24-hour period after Sunday’s first free elections in East Germany, the rate of newcomers dropped significantly: 1,593 registered at reception camps, versus 2,712 in the same period a week earlier.

However, some West German state officials complained that the Bonn government’s action comes too late to ease the burden of caring for thousands of settlers and that it should have been made effective long before July 1.

Opposition Social Democratic leader Oskar Lafontaine declared: “If it is true, as members of the government constantly repeat, that many people in East Germany are still sitting on their suitcases, then the date set must be like an invitation to more settlers.”

The Saarland state, of which Lafontaine is premier, or governor, announced that it would enact such anti-settler measures immediately. Bremen, which is a land (state) as well as a city, already has taken that step.

Other state premiers also said the deadline should be moved up from July 1.

Harald Viss, a West Berlin official, predicted Tuesday that there will be an increase in the number of settlers in the coming days as East Germans rush to beat the July 1 deadline.