A German court has refused to allow a family to shed their “foreign-sounding” names for new German ones they said would protect them from discrimination and aid integration into a country becoming attractive for immigrants.
The family, living in Germany under asylum after fleeing Azerbaijan, were given the opportunity to take on German versions of their names, some of which carry Islamic associations, the administrative court in Goettingen, in the state of Lower Saxony, said in a document.
But the family refused this offer, wanting instead to pick completely new German names with the goal of preventing any discrimination in finding work that could arise from an overly complicated spelling or connection to Islam.
“The fact that a surname is of foreign origin, or does not sound German, cannot alone be routinely presented as an important reason for a change of name,” the court ruled.
(Reuters)
一個德國法庭拒絕允許一家人擺脫掉他們的「聽起來像外國人」的名字，另取保護他們免受歧視，以及有助於整合到這個愈來愈受移民歡迎的國家的新德文名字。
下薩克森邦哥廷根的行政法庭在一份文件中指出，這個逃離亞塞拜然以庇護身分住在德國的家庭，被給予取一個他們的名字（部分與伊斯蘭有關）的德文版本的機會。
但這家人拒絕此一提議，要求取全新的德文名字，目的在於避免在找工作時，因為太過複雜的拼寫或與伊斯蘭有關而受到歧視。
法庭如此裁示，「光是姓氏源自外國或念起來不像德文此一事實，不足以成為改變姓名的重要理由。」
（路透/翻譯：張沛元）
1. shed v.
擺脫；不流露 (bai3 tuo1; bu4 liu2 lu4)
例: She didn’t even shed a tear at
her husband’s funeral.
(她甚至沒在老公的葬禮上掉淚。)
2. protect v.
保護 (bao3 hu4)
例: Is there anything I can do to protect
my car from being stolen?
(我能做些什麼來避免我的車子被偷？)
3. flee v.
逃走 (tao2 zou3)
例: He fled to a small island with a group of
followers after being defeated by his enemies.
(他被敵人打敗後帶著一群追隨者逃到一座小島。)
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