474 MAREN MÖHRING
was not limited to East Germany, but the public generally judged racism
to be a predominantly East German problem. In the media, East Ger-
mans were therefore depicted as “generally backward, extreme right-
wing, and violent,” which made the West appear to be more advanced
and more tolerant in comparison.^146 Whereas the asylum debates con-
tributed to German-German integration by creating a cleft between Ger-
mans and non-Germans, “the debate over [the supposedly East German]
origins of racist attacks reproduced the opposition between East and
West Germany.”^147 The violent attacks in Mölln in 1992 and Solingen in
1993 made it clear, however, that foreigners were also being murdered
in the West, and that this racist violence was not only directed against
refugees and asylum-seekers, but also against the (Turkish) migrants
who had been living in the country for a long time. Between 1990 and
1993, a total of at least forty-nine non-Germans were murdered in the
Federal Republic, although the number of unreported incidents is surely
quite high.
This violence, however, did not change the hard tone of the asylum de-
bates at all. To the contrary: after the pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen,
a politician from the Union parties claimed that this violence was not an
expression of racism, but rather of “the fully justifi ed resentment over the
mass abuse of the right of asylum.”^148 Friedrich Bohl from the Chancellor’s
Offi ce issued an announcement that it would only be possible to bring an
end to the excessive pressure on the people by putting limits on asylum
rights.^149 As chancellor, Helmut Kohl ultimately threatened to declare a
state of emergency, which was the most extreme measure that could be
undertaken in order to bring an end (as was desired by the CDU) to do-
mestic confl icts. He also promised that he would convince the SPD that
a constitutional amendment was needed. At a special party congress in
November 1992, the SPD approved what was called the Asylum Compro-
mise. Among other points, this compromise included the establishment
of the principle of safe third-party foreign states (free of persecution) as
well as safe countries of origin. In addition, it introduced an accelerated
asylum process for airports in which asylum-seekers were not considered
to have offi cially entered the country and could therefore be deported
within two days if their petition for asylum was not approved. The corre-
sponding legislation (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz) made cuts to the so-
cial benefi ts provided to asylum-seekers to bring them below the level of
the country’s standard welfare benefi ts, and it introduced the principle of
providing vouchers for goods as opposed to cash support. The number
of people petitioning for asylum did decrease considerably in the wake
of the constitutional amendment. But, these legislative changes did not
bring an end to the heated social climate and racist violence, which was