2022 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(2) Immigration seems to be a good example of the tight connection between legal and social recognition. Most countries only grant immigrants the right to immigration if they see them as morally deserving in the first place. In many cases, this is determined by a points-based admission system that includes several discriminatory categories such as age, language proficiency, financial situation, skills and previous experiences.47 There are numerous historical examples of this. One is that of Czech Social Democrat, Bohumil Laušman, who intended to seek asylum in West Germany after the Communist takeover of Yugoslavia.48 After an interview in which he suggested that there was no possibility of the Sudeten Germans returning to their homes in Czechoslovakia, Laušman’s plan was foiled.49 His statement made the Sudeten Germans so furious that they asked President Theodor Heuss to banish Laušman, although this was in stark contradiction with the refugee protection article in the Grundgesetz [Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany].50 The denial of social recognition led to Laušman remaining in Austria, where he was captured by the Czechoslovakian secret service in 1953.51 The tight connection between legal and social recognition could also be seen when thousands of people sought asylum in West Germany due to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Hungarian refugees were met with a lot of sympathy.52 Pro-refugee demonstrations took place in many cities. Even though the West German Ministry of the Interior tried to stick to its policy of not admitting nonGerman refugees at the time, the popular pressure was overwhelming.53 Consequently, 10,000 Hungarian refugees were granted asylum in November 1956.54 At the same time, the Federal Government of West Germany did not feel any legal responsibility to admit non-European refugees who were fleeing the Nigerian Civil War.55 In 1972, West Germany’s practice of racist exclusion was broadened after a group of Palestinians killed several Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. In response, West Germany restricted asylum, not only to all individuals from Palestine, but also from Israel’s Arab neighbours and the Maghreb states.56 Today, the same pattern is repeating itself with respect to the willingness of European countries to admit Ukrainian refugees rather than Syrian or North African refugees. Due to the different perceptions of the religious affiliations of both groups and strong anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe, the latter face much 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 For example, in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand: see Uwe Hunger and Sascha Krannich, ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of a Point Based Immigration System: Lessons from Classic Immigration Countries’ (2018) 12 Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 229; CJ McKinney, Melanie Gower and Georgina Sturge, ‘The UK’s New Points-Based Immigration System’ (Research Briefing, House of Commons Library, 27 September 2022). Patrice Poutrus, Umkämpftes Asyl: Vom Nachkriegsdeutschland Bis in Die Gegenwart (Christoph Links Verlag 2019) 27. ibid 27. ibid 28. ibid 28. ibid 44. ibid 45–46. ibid 46. ibid 59. ibid 63–64. 244