by Sanae Tanaka

International immigrants and issue of coexistence has been a big issue in the global society. History has led people to live in the country with different languages and different cultures including belief, so how we should consider this issue?

Germany is one of the economic winning countries among Europe and industry has significant meaning in the country. Fifteen minutes from central Berlin, there is an area called Kottbusser Tor where is popular residence are among immigrants from Turkey. There are more signs in Turkish than German and poor working class Turkish people are living there. This area is often called “Turkish ghetto” or “Little Istanbul” from local Germans and there is almost no German living with Turkish immigrants.

Since the end of the World War Two, West German government strictly banned the exclusion and discrimination towards non-Germans, however, in local level, the confrontation between Germans and immigrants has never faded away, and it still exists.

Local Germans question the need for Turkish immigrants to integrate with German society, however Turkish immigrants retort the impossibility of integration into German society since Germans never let them allow coexist. Turkish immigrants said the present situation, that Turkish immigrants living by themselves in limited area, is not what they want. They insist that they cannot find any place to live in German society because of the social rejection.

The mixture of people from different countries and cultures cannot be avoided and ignored in this world anymore since the impact of globalization is so huge. This confrontation between local people and immigrants is a very sensitive issue, however, I consider it always needs to be challenged to make the better society, which achieve closer to win-win relations, from the both of the actors. I think people need to continuously pursue the better situation because it is very hard to determine what is right or wrong decision to be made in this issue, since the actors are always different in each case. I consider seeking is very important and necessary to make both actors agree on the issue.

References

Masaki Matsuo. (2010). Case in Gulf Arabs: Ethnocracy. Utsunomiya University department of International studies research essay, Vol. 30, pp. 117-128.

Masanori Naito. (2004). Europe and Islam: the possibility of coexistence. Iwanami.