Millions of foreigners have found a second home in the Federal Republic of Germany. At an early stage, the West German business community found itself in need of additional foreign workers. From 1955 to 1968, the Federal Republic signed agreements to recruit labor temporarily from southern Europe and North Africa. In 1973, the federal government called a halt to recruitment due to the rising number of unemployed. Up to this time, 14 million foreign workers had come to the Federal Republic of Germany. Of these, however, 11 million had returned to their home countries. Subsequently, moving to West Germany was only allowed for people wishing to marry or join their families. |  | In 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany included in its Basic Law the internationally unique right to asylum for "politically persecuted persons." Following the influx of more than 400,000 asylum-seekers in 1992, only a small minority of whom were granted asylum, entry to the country was made more difficult, the application procedure was accelerated and the granting of asylum radically modified. In 1989, about 192,000 foreigners lived in East Germany, excluding Soviet soldiers. The 91,000 foreign workers contracted to work in East Germany covered the increased needs of its industry. However, they remained for the most part isolated from the population.
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