In the early 1980s, the number of asylum seekers doubled in West Germany and the issue got increasingly politicised. Most of the asylum seekers originated from Turkey where political unrest and...Show moreIn the early 1980s, the number of asylum seekers doubled in West Germany and the issue got increasingly politicised. Most of the asylum seekers originated from Turkey where political unrest and socio-ethnic conflicts were widespread. In this setting, Turkish asylum seekers belonging to Christian minorities became a source of controversy within the German Federal Ministry of the Interior. This thesis looks into the dynamics of asylum politics through analysing primary sources from the Federal Ministry of the Interior that depict the most important intergovernmental, federal and societal governance actors who either argued in favour of or against the admission of this specific group of asylum seekers. Their interplay is examined with the help of four main concepts under the umbrella of the gap hypothesis, which explain why the Christian asylum seekers were granted a right to stay in the long run although their asylum applications were first rejected: The liberal paradox of democratic states and the difficulty of interpreting the right of asylum gave room for multiple actors negotiating the case. Eventually, the positively constructed social class of the asylum seekers enabled the political realm to reach consensus to smartly settle the liberal paradox with a generously applied hardship regulation.Show less
