Programme Erasmus + Europe on the move : Migration Biographies
Theses
1 . Introduction
With 20.8 million ( 25.5 %) people having a migration background currently living in the country , Germany is , although controversially , described as an immigration country . 1 The reasons for coming to Germany are diverse : some follow their family or seek better economic conditions and some just want to escape famine , war or political persecution . Although integration is not compulsory since Germany guarantees freedom of lifestyle within the legal framework for everyone , it is still the states objective to avoid the formation of a parallel-society . 2 According to Hartmut Esser there are four dimensions of integration . Structural integration is looking at how immigrants occupy positions in functional systems like the labour market . The social aspect of integration asks for the intensity of the contact to the host population whereas emotional integration concerns the immigrants ’ national identity ( how much one feels German ). Cultural integration is generally operationalized as skills in the national language . Nevertheless the subjective integration shall not be neglected as it is important as well to observe how safe and well the migrant feels himself / herself in the host society . 3 Migrant networks and selforganization are often said to favor the emerge of those parallel-societies and therefore complicate integration . The aim of this paper is to present Yugoslav migrant networks using the example of the Croatian Mission and migrant sport-clubs in Germany and to point out their impact on the integration of Croatians as representatives for Yugoslav immigrants in this case . This is preceded by a short summary of the secession wars in the Balkan region in the 1990s . The migration biography of the civil war refugee Gabrijela Schneider is presented for illustrative purposes . Together with the historical foundation it forms the basis for the analytical work . Interviews serve as sources of information for the biography , while information on the war and the networks is gained through books and internet sources .
2 . The War in Croatia and Bosnia
2.1 . Triggers and Causes
Causes for the war and the following escalation had their beginning already in the 1980s , when the Yugoslavian Republic lost Josep Tito , the man that embodied the federal-socialist system that held the country together . Due to the loss of a unifying leader and an economic crisis , causing state-indebtedness , unemployment and poverty especially in the poorer regions like Serbia and Bosnia , the constituent republics started splitting into political camps . Croats , who were unhappy with the financial redistribution on one side and Serbs , who felt economically neglected on the other side . 4 Religious differences and the resulting tensions played a not unimportant role , too , as Croatians and Slovenians are mostly catholic , Serbians mostly orthodox and Bosnians mostly Muslims . 5 Furthermore the fall of the UdSSR meant one did no longer have to fear a foreign invasion . To keep Yugoslavia governable , Tito had split Serbia into three provinces , reducing Serbian influence in the national congress . This and a general oppression of national identities under Tito ’ s governance led to an increased radical nationalism in Serbia , manifested in the “ SANU Memorandum ” 6 , after his death . Nationalist propaganda in literature , newspapers and on television was used by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic , who controlled the mass-
1 ( Baden-Würtemberg ) ( Bundesamt , 2019 )
2 ( Baden-Würtemberg )
3 ( Thränardt & Schultze , 2013 , S . 34-38 )
4 ( Sundhaussen , 2008 )
5 ( Kube , 2005 )
6 Claiming Serbs had been purposely disadvantaged an discriminated by Tito ’ s policy
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