Berlin - German Muslims and the Federal Government concluded
a four-year process of consultation on Thursday, with Interior
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble attending final session of the Islam
Conference concluding in Berlin.
This week, data compiled for the conference revealed for the first
time that 5 per cent of Germany's population is Muslim, more than was
previously thought, and highlighted Muslim discontent about public
schools.
Schaeuble said the meetings since 2006 about improving the
integration of Muslims in Germany had an international dimension and
Chancellor Angela Merkel would be briefing US President Barack Obama
about them in Washington.
Merkel met at her office with the Muslim community leaders before
the three-hour conference began.
Most of the work since 2006 of the Islam Conference, including
information gathering, has been done by committees and officials
appointed by Schaeuble.
In his speech to the delegates, he said the conference had been
vital in establishing an 'internal discourse' among Muslim immigrants
hailing from 49 nations.
Education has been a focus of the meetings, with Muslim parents
complaining that public schools fail to provide their children with
job qualifications and mostly do not offer religion classes like
those offered to Christians.
Schaeuble said Germany was moving towards school instruction in
Islam, though there were constitutional obstacles, and was likely to
appoint university professors of Islamic religion.
'I am convinced we need such professorships and their occupants as
the harbingers of an Islamic theology for Germany and in Germany,' he
said.
The survey has found that conservative Muslims object to their
daughters being taught to swim in classes with boys. Because there is
no girls-only swimming instruction, 7 per cent of Muslim girls do not
attend any pool class.
Schaeuble said Germany was moving to improve weaknesses in the
schools that limited integration, and a working party would recommend
ways to reduce 'day to day' conflicts at schools.
Although Thursday marked the official end of the 2006-09
conference, Schaeuble said it was needed permanently. Politicians
called for the conference to be re-instituted after this September's
general election.
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