Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

2024-01-26 18:42:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The cause of the mass protests was the discovery by investigative journalists of the research institute "Correctiv", that members of the AfD had met on November 25 in Potsdam, to discuss a "re-immigration" plan, if the AfD comes to power in Germany. Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner proposed at that secret meeting a plan to "reverse the settlement of foreigners" in Germany. By foreigners, he meant asylum seekers, people with a residence permit in Germany, but also "non-assimilated" German citizens of foreign origin.

All of these would be deported to a "model state" in North Africa. The extremists euphemistically called the process "reimmigration" (reimmigration = read: expulsion). This is an idea analogous to the idea of ??the Nazis, who had chosen the island of Madagascar as a place of deportation for unwanted persons. AfD representatives at the meeting, not only did they not oppose the plan, but they supported it.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

Immediately after the report was published, six associations of German lawyers, among them the Federation of German Judges and the German Bar Association, said that the meeting is an attack against the constitution and the rule of law. They said the meeting could turn into a "second Wannsee conference".

As is known, in 1942, the Wannsee conference (Wannsee-Konferenz), in Potsdam, decided on the so-called "final solution" against the Jews: the coordination of the most efficient extermination of the Jews of Europe.

Policy response

Within hours of the publication of the investigative article, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared on the X network that any plan to deport migrants is "an attack against democracy and against all of us". A few days later, Scholzi and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock themselves participated in the protest of over 10,000 people in Potsdam against right-wing extremism. A number of politicians have positioned themselves, with speeches, even as participants in the demonstrations.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

Historic massiveness of protests

About 1 million people have participated in the protests so far: the Ministry of the Interior spoke about 900,000, the organizers about 1.4 million people. The most massive protests were on 19.01., 20.01. and 21.01. But they continue: 15,000 people have protested in the last few days in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

They are the biggest protests in the history of Germany, after the protests against the Vietnam war and the civil movement in the GDR, an expert recalled. In some cities, such as Munich and Hamburg, the organizers were even forced to call off the demonstrations due to the cities being overwhelmed by the overwhelming number of people. 350,000 people demonstrated against the AfD in Berlin, 250,000 people demonstrated in Munich; in Hamburg 160,000 people; 70,000 people demonstrated in Cologne; 60,000 in Leipzig; 50,000 people in Dresden.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

Protesters from all social groups

With mass demonstrations, participants convey the message that there is a limit to all extreme fantasies, which can ultimately lead to violence.

These days' demonstrators against the AfD have a very heterogeneous composition: they are young, old; liberals, conservatives; migrants; family, single; East Germans, West Germans; gay couples. They are the opposite of the picture of the homogeneity of the people, which the AfD seeks.

They are often organized in solidarity: protests in one city prompt citizens in other cities to do the same.

Assessment of protests in Europe

Their energetic protest is irrefutable evidence that democracy in Germany continues to be alive and active. This is the conclusion of most German and European experts who analyze the massiveness of the protests. In Europe, the French daily, Le Monde, wrote e.g. that demonstrations are a healthy reaction. There is a big difference, she wrote, from "the French neighbours, who are more passive towards the extreme right, which plays the card of normality... in France". , remains its best asset".

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

For the first time in Germany, the possibility of banning the AfD is now being widely discussed. But even if the procedure to ban the AfD were to be initiated - for this the request of 37 deputies is enough - its success before the Federal Constitutional Court is unclear. Only two parties have been banned in the FRG to this day: in 1952 the Socialist Reich Party, which gathered Hitler nostalgics, and in 1956 the Communist Party of Germany.

Some reasons why the AfD is supported

Even in Germany, as in every country, there is a segment of the population that does not appreciate liberal democracy: there are anti-Semites, there are people against foreigners, there are racists. AfD's success is explained on the one hand by the fact that AfD gives political voice to this social segment. The AfD generally gathers emotions of dissatisfaction with the current situation in Germany.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

There is, on the other hand, another larger number of people: they feel either violated by the state and the government; or on the contrary, they think that the state is non-existent and inefficient.

Well-known sociologists Steffen Mau and Hartmut Rosa told the SZ newspaper that there are unhappy Germans, because according to them the state interferes too much: sometimes it brings refugees to the countryside, where things are actually good. It seems to them then that the state cares "only about foreigners"; next time, the state will change the type of heating in private homes by law. On the contrary, others feel unhappy that according to them the state does nothing: nothing to protect the environment, nothing against homophobia, etc.

It is a fact that today's world changes quickly and people are very tired. They are excited and set in motion quickly. The AfD promises the tired a return to what they know best, the traditional. But that, in fact, no longer exists, as they have in their memory.

The AfD takes over 22 percent in polls across Germany. In September, in the elections in three eastern countries, where according to polls AfD gets over 35%, it is not excluded that it will emerge as the strongest party. But due to the "sanitary cordon", the decision of all major parties not to cooperate with the AfD, this party is not expected to come to power.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

Some reasons why the AfD is massively opposed

The number of the population of Germany rose this year to 84.7 million inhabitants. Germany is the most populous country in Europe. Germany reached this figure thanks to migration. Without compensation from migrants, Germany would decrease in number, as here too more people die than are born. This would bring great economic problems to the German economy, with a great thirst for workers. It would bring social problems to society.

It is a fact that throughout Western Europe there is currently a large anti-migration movement. Is Germany an exception? Even in Germany, as in Europe, there are discussions about the number of refugees that should be allowed to cross Germany's borders. But its own history prompts Germany at the same time to make an exception: to maintain an active democracy and support European integration.

Germans protest against plan to deport foreigners

Germany's economic interests are another reason why the extreme fantasies of the AfD are massively opposed. After coming to power AfD has said that it will organize a referendum to take Germany out of the EU. The ideology of this party scares away foreign investors and skilled workers, which Germany needs. This is unacceptable to many Germans.