Eva Kolinsky (Wolverhampton) p.83-101
2004 Issue 3
Abstract
The paper focuses on the largest group of contract workers, those from Vietnam, and examines how they fared in Magdeburg and the surrounding area since unification. Unification replaced, in principle at least, the institutionalised foreignness of the GDR with the west German system that extended rights of social citizenship to all residents. For contract workers, however, the transition towards democracy and a changed status was far from smooth. In 1990, even before unification, most lost their employment and their hostel accommodation. Most were forced to leave, and those who remained were only permitted to work as street traders. It took until 1993, before a ‘right to remain’ was formulated, and this envisaged only that former contract workers should remain for the duration of their original stay before return/deportation. Despite the uncertainties, some about one in ten remained in Germany (and others returned illegally). It took until 1997 for the Bundestag to pass a Bleiberecht that treated former contract workers on an equal footing to other migrant workers, and also incorporated their residency in the GDR into the time spent in Germany. Since then, a precarious interim between contact work and possible deportation has given way to confirmed residency and social normalisation.