"The foreign German" depicts the story of a Tamil war refugee who came to Germany as an
unattended 12-year-old boy, and who successfully has blended in. In a vivid way Umeswaran
Arunagirinathan narrates his way from being a person with exceptional leave to remain for
humanitarian reasons, to becoming a physician, as well as a German citizen.
In doing so he also fathoms the potential, expectations as well as challenges of the process of an
integration. Furthermore, he critically deals with way of life and culture of his country of origin.
Writing his book the author wants to ask German people for a better understanding of refugees; and
at the same time he wants to encourage the latter to integrate into German society.