Migrants in Germany voice concerns about future after AfD victory
In Germany’s eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, following the historic victory of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the state election, some people with a migrant background said they were concerned about their future. As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, initial projections showed that AfD exceeded expectations, while the conservatives of Chancellor Friedrich Merz recorded a historic low result.
Reaction of migrant communities
Forty-six-year-old Mamad Mohamad, a member of the Greens, is set to become one of the first members of the state parliament with a migrant background, alongside Mustafa Grehner of The Left (Die Linke). Mohamad, who arrived in Germany from Syria in 1996 as a 16-year-old Kurdish Yazidi, called his success a “poisoned victory.”
According to him, his daughter did not want to go to school. He also expressed concern that political changes would make it more difficult to attract new residents to the state, including skilled workers and families.
Undra Dressler, head of the Saxony-Anhalt State Network of Migrant Organizations, said that people with a migrant background have long faced discrimination and structural barriers in access to work, education, medical care and public services. According to her, some community members are already talking about concrete plans to leave the region or have already done so.
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AfD migration policy
AfD has long advocated stricter rules in the areas of migration and asylum. The party says that Germany has lost control of its borders and that migration, in its view, places significant pressure on public services, security and social cohesion.
The party’s election program states that a Saxony-Anhalt government led by AfD would launch a state campaign to deport rejected asylum seekers. The party also proposes encouraging businesses to use artificial intelligence and automation instead of recruiting skilled migrants from what it calls a “culturally alien” environment.
AfD rejects accusations that its rhetoric contributes to creating a hostile environment for migrants and insists that it opposes only illegal and uncontrolled migration. Party co-chair Alice Weidel said that Germany welcomes people who work, have qualifications, pay taxes and obey the law.
Pascal Begrich, head of the democracy protection organization Miteinander, does not expect a mass outflow of migrants due to economic realities, but noted that migrants and employers are reconsidering their future in Saxony-Anhalt. Dressler and Begrich also stressed that any future state government would be required to uphold Germany’s constitutional order and guarantees for the protection of minorities.
