[Asylum and immigration in Germany]

"Germany, which used to be one of the most tolerant countries in matters concerning asylum, has, since the eighties, been confronted by very large migratory flows. Immigration to [West Germany] consisted every year of hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers, a similar number of...Germans from Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania and Poland, as well as a large number of East Germans. On May 26th 1993, the Bundestag adopted a new law making asylum and immigration to Germany increasingly difficult. The problem of immigration has not been resolved, however, as is shown by the situation in the East European countries, Germany's neighbours, who are suffering the consequences of the new asylum policy...." (SUMMARY IN ENG)