Last week, the Interior Ministers of the German Federal States agreed to grant two more years of stay to foreigners with a 'tolerated status' (Duldung) who have had this status for at least eight years or, if having children who are minors, for at least six years. The 'Duldung' is a special status containing limited rights granted to those who have been refused asylum but have not been forcibly returned for humanitarian reasons. Because of the duty to denounce that lies upon the social welfare centres in specific circumstances, the duldung often ends up being the only possibility to receive care. The extra two years will be given to find a job and receive a residence permit. NGOs expressed disappointment that, again, there has been no permanent solution to the precarious situation of tolerated foreigners. They are also concerned that sick and disabled people would not be able to make use of the new regulations, as they are not very likely to find jobs.

Sources: ECRE weekly bulletin, 11 December 2009; and Pro Asyl, 'Ergebnis der Innenministerkonferenz in Bremen'

On 24 November, the social-democrat party (SPD) introduced a law proposal to modify the Aliens act, on the one hand to extend further the prohibition to denounce undocumented migrants: obligation to denounce would be limited to forces of law and order; and on the other hand, in case of assistance to undocumented migrants, to limit sanctions to those persons who where assisting for financial gain.

The previous administrative instructions for the 'Residence Act' (Aufenthaltsgesetz) already prevented health professionals and administrative staff of hospitals from denouncing undocumented migrants to the authorities, contrary to the welfare services, which were obliged to inform the immigration authorities if they learned about a foreigner living without legal residence status.

According to new instructions released by the Bundesrat on 18 September 2009, the prohibition to denounce is extended to social welfare services. The new administrative instructions are available (in German) here (p. 507-509).

On July 2^nd, the city council of Munich voted unanimously the creation of a fund to finance emergency health care for undocumented migrants and people without health insurance. The fund should be endowed with € 100.000 a year and serve two purposes:

An undocumented migrant, who had lived in Germany for 20 years, suffering from AIDS, did not dare – out of fear of being denounced and expulsed – to seek medical support before the end of July. He died some weeks later. According to Medizinischen Flüchtlingshilfe (‘Medical care for refugees’), this would not have been the case if medical care and treatment could be provided to undocumented migrants on an anonymous basis.

The annual report of MDM Germany’s open.med project has just been released. The project provides access to health care for persons without health insurance. It gives a broad overview of what open.med is about, what profile the patients have, and what pathologies they suffer from.

The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) has issued a paper dealing with the situation of undocumented migrants in Germany. In addition to naming a few examples for “good practices”, the DGB also formulates policy requirements, i.e. respecting undocumented migrants' basic social and human rights, combating moonlighting as a matter of labor, not regulatory policy, no ban on regularizations by the EU, a more liberal issuing of a stable right to stay and work to migrants with short-term permits, an end to the duty to report for public administration in the fields of health care, education and work, decriminalization of people supporting undocumented migrants, a disjunction of employment and residence rights, and deportations that are in compliance with human rights.

The federal state of Berlin will present a legal initiative to the Federal Council of Germany seeking to secure and decriminalise medical treatment for undocumented migrants in Germany. The proposal includes introducing an anonymous sickness certificate to facilitate access to health care which is a human right and should not be subject to charity as is currently the situation in Germany. Furthermore, the proposal seeks to remove the legal gray area surrounding doctors who provide health care to undocumented migrants. A precondition for this measure is a change in the laws regulating the right to stay; these laws currently demand social officers to report information regarding undocumented patients to the Foreigners Office. The Berlin plan foresees that a public office will be established which will enable undocumented migrants to remain anonymous when being processed by the social offices who pay for their medical treatment.

Deutsche Welle,

http://www.dwworld.de/dw/article/0,,4060922,00.html?maca=de-rss-de-all-1119-rd