Plainly Spinning Out of Control : Germany needs to attend to its overly liberal asylum law and growing economic problems

Germany is bracing for a tense weekend. Left-wing protesters are preparing to confront the neo-Nazi thugs who this past week staged a carnival of anti-foreign violence in Rostock, in eastern Germany. Chancellor Helmut Kohl, joined by other leaders, has deplored the attacks on the foreigners and the police who tried to protect them as a “disgrace for our land.” To many, the battle cry of the youthful Nazis--that Germany is for Germans alone--ominously recalls the darkest days of the country’s past. Ironically, the pretext for the violence connects directly to an effort to try to atone for that past.

“Persons persecuted on political grounds shall enjoy the right to asylum.” That generous invitation to foreigners from Germany’s 1949 constitution has in recent years made the country a destination for hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers, very few of whom have in fact fled political persecution. The great majority have simply sought to improve their economic lot. But the process for identifying the truly endangered can take years to complete. In the meantime the newcomers are provided shelter, aid, pocket money. The demand used to be manageable. But with the collapse of communism and unification in 1990 came a flood of asylum-seekers; more than a half-million are expected this year alone. These are in addition to the nearly 6 million foreigners who work in the federal republic, usually in low-paying jobs that Germans shun.

The situation has plainly spun out of control. Politicians who have long dithered now agree that the asylum law must be tightened. Meanwhile existing problems demand attention. Communities like Rostock, where asylum-seekers are housed, find local services strained to the breaking point. Frictions have escalated, helping to create a nurturing environment for neo-Nazi louts. Matters are especially bad in eastern Germany, where unification has produced widespread joblessness, and where the still-wide economic and cultural gap with the former West Germany fuels frustration, bitterness and mounting intolerance. So far this year more than 2,000 attacks on foreigners and asylum-seekers have taken place, with at least seven people killed.

The immediate need is for the police to gain control over the rioters. The initial inadequate response in Rostock only encouraged extremists. The political asylum law has to be changed; Germany can no longer afford to be the European magnet for a growing surge of nonpolitical refugees. An eventual return to better economic times in the costly aftermath of unification should help improve the troubled climate. But that may still be years away, making it likely that Germany’s envied postwar stability will continue to face severe and unpleasant tests.