Social Democrat Nancy Faeser slams center-right CDU/CSU and far-right AfD for discriminatory rhetoric, proposals to revoke citizenship of immigrants, plans for mass deportations
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for greater respect toward well-integrated migrants while warning against dehumanizing campaign rhetoric from opposition parties ahead of next month's snap elections.
“Almost 25 million people in Germany have a migrant background. Their parents or they themselves are immigrants. That is almost 30% of our population,” Faeser told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
“They have long been a natural part of our society and keep our country running in many areas: in hospitals and care facilities, in companies and industry. What these people do deserves more respect,“ she said.
The Social Democrat minister criticized center-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) for plans to overturn Germany's new citizenship law, and revoking citizenship for dual nationals.
“If the CDU/CSU begins discussing how people can be stripped of their German citizenship, then that leads to the feeling that there are first and second class citizens,” Faeser warned.
“In the global competition for skilled workers, we need exactly the opposite: good prospects and security in Germany. Workers and skilled workers will only come if they can fully belong, instead of having to fear exclusion,” she said.
The minister directed her strongest criticism at the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's “remigration” proposal — a vague term the party uses to describe mass deportations of immigrants and German citizens with foreign backgrounds.
“The fact that the AfD apparently wants to deport people en masse under the term 'remigration' shows not only its contempt for humanity but also how much it would damage Germany as a business location and cost jobs,” she said.
As Germany approaches its Feb. 23 elections, right-wing and populist parties have made immigration their central campaign issue. A YouGov poll released on Wednesday showed the anti-immigrant AfD could get 21% of intended votes, positioning it as the second-strongest party behind the conservative CDU/CSU bloc at 30%. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) was polled at 18%, with the Greens following at 14%.
