Turkish Migration to Germany in 1970s Guest Workers (Article Sample)

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TURKISH LABOUR MIGRATION TO GERMANY
Executive summary
Human beings have migrated since so many decades in the past. This migration has ranged from travels of a few miles to longer travels across oceans and continents. As the states of Europe recovered from World War II, they started becoming attractive destinations for potential migrants and opened doors to immigrants to assist in rebuilding their economies. During the post-war period, technological improvements in air and land travel decreased the cost of migration (Malweski, 2008). Emigration from developing countries to Western nations expanded rapidly as incomes in the developing world rose enough to make relocation feasible, but not enough to make it moot
The primary phase of labor migration from to Germany from Turkey was initiated with bilateral labor recruitment agreements that existed between two governments in the early 1960s. Given both countries' social and economic conditions, labor recruitment seemed a working solution. Germany expected to get a temporary labor supply and, therefore, do away with the high costs of involving migrant workers, while sustaining growth in the economy without the pressure of raising wages. Turkey, however, hoped for an impetus for modernization and economic development resulting from remittances and the migrant workers going back. A decade later, in 1973, the German government abruptly halted labor recruitment. At the same time, it provided incentives to encourage return migration. Despite these incentives, the volume of return migration remained small while Turkish population in Germany raised as a result of family reunion and high rates of fertility. The number of Turks in Germany became stable in the course of time, with close to two million Turks living in Germany today.
Introduction
Immigration and emigration are processes that complementarily describe the movements of people over geographic space between two different regions or countries worldwide. People migrate from a particular country and immigrate to some other country. Both emigration and immigration can describe many different types of migrants. There are also different methods of classifying migrants for economic and political reasons (Corry, 1996). For instance, there is Long-term Migration that includes; Labor migrants, Professional, business or investor migrants and Forced migrants like asylum seekers. On the other hand, Temporary Migration includes; seasonal migrants or laborers on temporary working visas, Professional and business migrants and Student and Scholar migrants
Migration can either involve international or internal flows. International flows are the movement of migrants from a particular country to another within the same continent or to more distant countries. Internal flows, on the other hand, is the migration between areas or regions inside a single country. Hence, migrants can both move across cities within their state or region or cross borders.
Large-scale Turkish labor emigration to Europe started with an agreement signed by the Turkish and West German governments in 1961. The fact coincided with a West German economic boom and the migration of growing numbers of Turkish internal migrants from rural areas to major urban centers. The pact aimed to provide the German economy for temporary unskilled labor, guest workers while thinning the ranks of Turkey's lack of jobs (Corry, 1996). It was expected that these workers would go back to Turkey with new skills and assist in reorienting the Turkish economy from rural agriculture to industry.
In this paper, however, I will focus on a key thematic element of the political economy of migration through engaging the literature and utilizing established historical and comparative quantitative methods. I will tackle the historical legacy of the Turks migration to Germany, the political and economic forces that spurred the movement and the substantial effects of the migration to both states. The problems encountered by the Turks in Germany until present day is also discussed.
The Push and Pull Factors
Push factors are negative factors of the sending country, unlike pull factors that are positive aspects of the receiving country (Shanks, 2002). These differentiating factors are two sides of the same coin. In moving migrants must not only find a lack of benefits at home, push factor, but also expect a surplus of profits abroad, pull factor; otherwise the move would not be worthwhile. There are also more ambiguous elements, called network factors that can either facilitate or deter migration. As mentioned above, network factors include the cost of travel, the ease of communication, and international business trends. These factors are not related to a particular country, but still have a profound effect on international migration.
Push Factors
Push factors come in many forms. Sometimes these factors leave people with no choice but to leave their country of origin. Below are three examples of push factors that drive people to emigrate from their country of origin.
Lack of Jobs/Poverty
Economic factors provide the primary motivation behind migration. In fact, according to the International Labour Organization, approximately half of the total population of current international migrants, or about 100 million migrant workers, have left home to find better job and lifestyle opportunities for their families abroad.
Labor Demand
Almost all developed countries have realized that they need migrants' low skill labor to assist their growing economies. While most manufacturing is now outsourced to developing nations, low skill employment opportunities are available in wealthy countries due to growing service sectors. These savings create millions of jobs that domestic workers may refuse to fill because of their low wages and minimal opportunity for professional advancement. Canada is an example of this trend; the country's migrant population has nearly doubled over the past couple of years (Geddes, 2012).
The history of Turkish migration into Germany
The illusion began on 30th of October 1961, with the signing of a labor recruitment agreement between West Germany and Turkey. Similar arrangements already existed with Italy, Spain and Greece, but the West German economy was booming, and the need for labor seemed endless. After being vaccinated and passing a medical fitness test, thousands of Turks took special trains in Istanbul and Ankara and were taken to Germany. The workers set foot in Munich and were then placed among the country's industrial regions. The government and the economy were relieved by the Turkish foreign workers, who were aged between 18 and 45, at the prime of their operational capacity, boosted tax revenues and social security aids and made a substantial contribution to increasing production levels.
Thus, it was no surprise that Josef Stingl, the then-president of the Federal Labor Agency, was visibly euphoric when, in November 1969, he greeted the 1-millionth guest worker from the southeastern European region at Munich's central train station. The 24-year-old Turk was given a television set the was shipped off to a factory in Mainz near Frankfurt, and Stingl used the opportunity to announce that Germany needed much more like him to maintain its course of steady economic growth (OndrÌŒej, Shanks, 2002).
German companies were mainly interested in semi-skilled or unskilled laborers for poorly paid, lousy jobs on assembly lines and in shift work. Poor, remote regions of Turkey were the widespread employment areas. At the time, nobody in Germany cared much about the issue that many of the new guest workers could hardly write or read, making it difficult for them to take part in German society. The guest workers were expected to stay together in new small dormitories near the factories where they worked, and go back to their native countries after working for a few years.
Turkish immigrants in Germany comprised of one of the most prominent migrant groups at the post-war period. These immigrants came into the Germany as "Gastarbeiter," or guest workers, during the 1950s and 1960s to involve themselves in the country's post-war demand for labor. However, the German government never intended for these immigrants to stay in Germany permanently, so they weren't granted citizenship or entirely integrated into German society. However, this legislation does not allow Turks to hold dual citizenship, causing social unrest between Turks who are being asked to renounce their Turkish nationality to become German citizens ( Zaman, 2012)
But none of this was adequately regulated. A rotation clause intended to limit a guest worker's first stay in Germany to two years was eliminated from the 1964 German-Turkish treaty, partly as a result of pressure from German industry, which was loath to cater for the costs of constantly training new workers (Horrocks,1996). Besides, the Turkish immigrants had shown reliability as workers who made fewer demands than their German counterparts but were no less productive, according to a 1966 report by the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA).
Political and Economic Effects in Turkey and Germany
The economic effects of migration vary widely. Sending countries may experience both gains and losses in the short term but may stand to gain over the long run. For receiving countries, temporary worker methods help to address the lack of skills but may decrease domestic wages and add to public welfare burden. The economic effects of migration for both sending and receiving countries may also vary depending on who is moving, specifically on migrant workers' skill levels. The problem is not immigration but integration,, especially in the labor market. If there are no jobs, the consequences are segregation, housing problems and di...