If a penal system is to be characterized as "treatment-oriented", seeking to enable prisoners "to live responsible lives in freedom and without imprisonment" (section 2 of the German Penal System Code), then it cannot ignore the large number of foreign nationals among prisoners, awaiting deportation. And yet there are virtually no prospects of reintegrating such prisoners. So when it comes to rehabilitation assistance, the whole area of cross-border help will need to be substantially extended.In view of this situation, it is important to seek globalization not only in the area of criminal prosecution, but also rehabilitation assistance. Reintegration and crime prevention must not make way for repression. Compared with other countries, Germany has a particularly large share of foreign nationals among its prison population, so that it ought to take considerable interest in this issue and become a motor of cross-border collaboration.
Some experience has already been gathered with the globalization of rehabilitation assistance in Germany: German rehabilitation institutions maintain branch offices in Asia and Africa. And BSDG has established a number of joint ventures with organizations in various Eastern European countries as well as in Africa, Asia and America (partly also through its international affiliation in IACPR, the International Association of Christian Charitable Prison and Rehabilitation Ministries). This has made it possible, in several isolated case, to prepare the return of ex-prisoners to their countries of origin.