BERLIN (AP) – German police are investigating an election campaign plane flown by a far-flung group that looks like a plane ticket and wants to deport “illegal immigrants.”
The pamphlet was published on the website of the local Karlsruhe party branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. It is shaped like a boarding pass and reads “only emigration can save Germany.” It is on the 23rd of February, that Germany holds a national election.
About 30,000 leaflets were distributed in the southwestern city, German news agency dpa reported.
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Police in Karlsruhe told The Associated Press on Wednesday that they have opened a criminal investigation into allegations of incitement to hatred.
This issue has become increasingly popular on social media as some users say that the flyer was deliberately thrown into the mailboxes of immigrants. The AfD branch in the state of Karlsruhe said the flyer was aimed at all eligible voters, dpa reported.
The mayor of Karlsruhe, Frank Mentrup, said the AfD crossed the red line with the flyer.
Finding “such notes in the letterbox reinforces the feeling of insecurity and fear,” and that should not be part of the election campaign, he told public broadcaster SWR.
Germany’s faltering economy and immigration are among the top concerns for voters.
Polls show the AfD in second place ahead of the election, with around 20% support. However, the party’s representative in the position of chancellor, Alice Weidel, who recently had a live interview with Elon Musk after supporting the AfD in his position X, has no real chance of becoming Germany’s leader as other parties refuse to cooperate with the AfD.
Although some groups have not called for the deportation of immigrants, the majority of Germans support the deportation of those who cannot find asylum in Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed and asserted several times that he will strengthen the deportation of people who have been refused asylum.
Only last year, the AfD sought to distance itself from far-right calls for the “emigration” of millions of people with immigrant roots that sparked mass protests. The group now openly wants people to migrate. At a party conference over the weekend, Weidel called for Germany’s borders to be closed to undocumented immigration and mass deportations of asylum seekers, making it clear he has no problem with the politically charged word “migration.”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser strongly rejected the AfD’s anti-immigration sentiments and warned against dividing Germans into first- and second-class citizens based on their heritage.
“The fact that the AfD apparently wants to deport people en masse under the name of ‘immigration’ shows not only their contempt for humanity, but also how much it will damage Germany as a business location and cost jobs,” Faeser told the Rheinische Post daily. on Wednesday.
Germany is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers and experts estimate that the country needs around 400,000 skilled immigrants each year as the workforce ages and shrinks. Companies across the country fear that the AfD’s anti-foreign stance will further deter much-needed immigrants from moving to Germany for work.
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