Right of return: Difference between revisions

[[German law]] allows (1) people descending from [[Reichsdeutsche|German nationals]] of any ethnicity or (2) people of ethnic German descent and living in countries of the former [[Warsaw Pact]] (as well as Yugoslavia) the right to "return" to Germany and ("re")claim German citizenship (''Aussiedler/Spätaussiedler'' "late emigrants"). After legislative changes in late 1992 this right is ''[[de facto]]'' restricted to ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union. As with many legal implementations of the Right of Return, the "return" to Germany of individuals who may never have lived in Germany based on their ethnic origin or their descent from German nationals has been controversial. The law is codified in paragraph 1 of Article 116 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany]], which provides access to German citizenship for anyone "who has been admitted to the territory of the German Reich within the boundaries of December 31, 1937 as a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such person".<ref name="Germany Basic Law">[https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf Basic Law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075359/https://www.bundestag.de/blob/284870/ce0d03414872b427e57fccb703634dcd/basic_law-data.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> Those territories had [[Poles in Germany|a Polish minority]], which also had German citizenship and [[Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II|after World War II lived in Poland]]. These Polish people are also ''Aussiedler'' or ''Spätaussiedler'' and came [[History of Poland (1945–1989)#End of Communist rule (1980–1990)|especially in the 1980s]] to Germany, see [[Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II]]. For example [[Lukas Podolski]] and [[Eugen Polanski]] became German citizens by this law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.expolis.de/schlesien/texte/simonides.html|title=GIBT ES EIN OBERSCHLESISCHES ETHNIKUM?|access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref> Paragraph 2 of Article 116 also provides that "Former German citizens who between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945 were deprived of their citizenship on political, racial or religious grounds, and their descendants, shall on application have their citizenship restored".<ref name="Germany Basic Law"/> The historic context for Article 116 was the eviction, following [[World War II]], of an estimated 9 million foreign ethnic Germans from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Another 9 million German nationals in the [[historical eastern Germany|former eastern German territories]], over which [[Joseph Stalin]] and eastern neighbour states extended military hegemony in 1945, were [[expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]] as well. These expellees and refugees, known as ''[[Heimatvertriebene]]'', were given refugee status and documents, and&mdash;as to foreign ethnic Germans&mdash;also the German citizenship (in 1949), and resettled in Germany. The [[Federation of Expellees|Discussion of possible compensation]] continues; this, however, has been countered by possible claims for war compensation from Germany's eastern neighbours, pertaining to both Germany's unconditional surrender and the series of population transfers carried out under the instruments of [[Potsdam Conference|Potsdam]]. Between 1950 and 2016 it is estimated that up to 1,445,210 ''Aussiedler/Spätaussiedler'' and their family members (''Familienangehörigen''), including many [[Poles|ethnic Poles]] according to Deutsche Welle<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/pl/emigracja-z-polski-do-niemiec-liczna-i-prawie-niewidoczna/a-16181647|title=Emigracja z Polski do Niemiec liczna i prawie niewidoczna|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> (for example [[Lukas Podolski]] and [[Eugen Polanski]]), emigrated from Poland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpb.de/61643|title=Zuzug von (Spät-)Aussiedlern und ihren Familienangehörigen|date=1 April 2018|publisher=[[Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung]]|language=de}}</ref>

The [[Law of Return]] is legislation enacted by [[Israel]] in 1950, that gives all [[Jews]], people of Jewish ancestry up to at least one Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to [[Aliyah|immigrate]] to and settle in Israel and obtain citizenship, and obliges the Israeli government to facilitate their immigration. Originally, the law applied to Jews only, until a 1970 amendment stated that the rights "are also vested in a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew". This resulted in several hundreds of thousands of people fitting the above criteria immigrating to Israel (mainly from the [[former Soviet Union]]) but not being recognized as Jews by the Israeli religious authorities, which on the basis of [[halakha]] recognize only the child of a Jewish mother as being Jewish, or a [[proselyte]] to Judaism. Moreover, some of these immigrants, though having a Jewish grandparent, are known to be practicing Christians. People who would be otherwise eligible for this law can be excluded if they can reasonably be considered to constitute a danger to the welfare of the state, have a criminal past, or are wanted fugitives in their countries with the exception of persecution victims. Jews who converted to another religion can also be denied the right of return. Since its inception in 1948, over three million Jews have immigrated to Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3539874,00.html |title=400 olim arrive in Israel ahead of Independence Day - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |access-date=2008-05-06}}</ref>

[[Category:Nationality law|*]]