This paper considers how the role and status of Germany's diverse immigrant population has been affected by its new geopolitcal situation, in particular unification, since 1989. German unification has opened a new debate about German national identiy, and has imposed West German concepts of citizenship and governance on the New Lander. The paper shows how the integration prospects for Germany's older immigrant populations have been dented by the combination of economic restructuring and a huge upsurge in new types of immigration. Prominent among the latter are ethnic German resettlers (or Aussiedler), and the paper examines how these immigrants find themselves in a weak position in contemporary German society despite their official status as German citizens. The paper concludes that, although there would appear to be no major labour shortages within the economy, Germany has to develop a more extensive range of migration policies to cater for the huge demand for economically motivated migration.

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national identity Germany political climate immigrants' status post-unification economic migrants immigrant population