VIENNA, Austria — Critics of a new law that forces some immigrants to learn basic German quickly or face possible expulsion are challenging the measure, saying it reinforces the notion that Austria is hostile to outsiders.
Since Jan. 1, foreigners from outside the European Union (news — web sites) have been required to know some German under a law called the Integration Agreement. Those deemed by immigration officials to speak insufficient German are sent to a class and forced to pay at least half the fee.
Despite the name, the law has little to do with integration, argued Katarina Echsel, a legal counselor at Peregrina, an organization that supports female foreigners in Austria.
Instead, she contends it’s a tool to tell certain people they’re unwelcome. Foreign professionals holding key positions are exempt, as are their families, university students and some others.
“If it is about integration, why don’t you then demand that they do it, too?” Echsel asked.
Making language-learning mandatory “creates a negative image of migrants among the public,” said Ines Michalowski, a researcher at the Institute for Migration Research at the University of Osnabrueck, Germany.
“It implies that they don’t want to learn, when in reality the majority wants to take language classes,” she said.
Peregrina and other groups offering cheap German classes have long waiting lists.
Several other European countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, require immigrants to learn the local language, Michalowski said. But only Austria links the requirement to residence permits. “I’ve never seen such a measure anywhere,” she said, calling it “very unfortunate.”
But Alexander Janda, director of the state-run Fund for Integration of Refugees in charge of administrating the law, defends the measure. The courses “include different models of everyday communication, such as what you would need in banks and public transportation,” he said.
The state contributes $215 to the course fee, with the cheapest classes costing twice that. Failure to start classes within 18 months reduces the subsidy; after two years, fines can be imposed.
“After four years, if there is no extension granted, a procedure to end the residence permit starts,” Janda said, adding that human rights would be considered before anyone is expelled.
The law applies to foreigners from non-EU countries — including the United States — who arrived in 1998 or thereafter.
The measure should be seen within the context of several European countries’ efforts to improve integration in an attempt to prevent nationalism, said Peter Schatzer of the International Organization for Migration.
Perceptions that too few foreigners are integrating into society can lead to xenophobic “fears in society, and sometimes elections” in which far-right parties gain power or mainstream parties adopt anti-immigration policies, he said.
That happened in Austria in 1999, when the rightist Freedom Party gained power in part because its former leader, Joerg Haider, exploited concerns about rising immigration. The party’s anti-foreigner rhetoric alarmed Austria’s neighbors and led to seven months of punitive EU diplomatic sanctions.
Not all foreigners bristle at the language law.
Osman Kozlica, who is enrolled in a German class sponsored by the Red Cross, hopes improving his language skills will help him find work. The 48-year-old Bosnian, who came to Austria two decades ago, is unemployed after losing a construction job.
“Had there been something like this when I arrived, I would have learned properly from the beginning,” Kozlica said.
His teacher, Hans Volker Kieweler, supports the new law.
“I think it’s good that you’re making the effort to give the people the language,” he said. “Integration begins with the language. Without language, nothing works.”
But Stanley Martin, who came to Vienna from Nigeria six months ago, said no law can promote integration unless attitudes change.
“They don’t like foreigners here. (They don’t like) the way you move, the way you dress, your jewelry. In my country and many others, it is not so,” he said.
Martin, 22, plans to move to Canada.
Wed May 28, 2003 11:29 AM ET
By SUSANNA LOOF, Associated Press Writer
