Gastarbeiter

Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (German pronunciation:[ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ]) is German for "guest worker" (literal translation). It refers to foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany (BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). Similarly, the Netherlands and Belgium had a parallel scheme called the gastarbeider programme. Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland had similar programmes called arbetskraftsinvandring (workforce-immigration).