Several umbrella organisations of migrant associations are demanding that Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the state premiers introduce protective measures in case the AfD takes on government responsibility in Saxony-Anhalt. According to the taz, an open letter to the Chancellor and the state premiers says: “In Saxony-Anhalt, a party whose state branch is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist could for the first time be part of a governing coalition in the coming weeks.” The letter was sent in Berlin on Monday, 19 October – deliberately ahead of the Conference of Minister-Presidents this Thursday.
The senders are the Turkish Community in Germany, the Federal Conference of Migrant Organisations (BKMO), the Umbrella Organisation of Migrant Organisations in East Germany and the State Network of Migrant Organisations in Saxony-Anhalt (Lamsa). “But there is still no concept for protecting the people who would be threatened by such a government,” the taz quotes from the letter.
“We are afraid”
The associations refer to Jews, to people perceived as Muslims, to Sinti and Roma, to queer people and to people with a history of migration. “The threat to democracy is on everyone’s lips. The threat to people who do not fit the völkisch worldview, by contrast, is felt above all by those affected themselves, in their everyday lives,” they warn. BKMO chair Karen Taylor told the taz: “We are afraid. The protection of our fundamental rights must not depend on our postcode.”
The letter goes on to say: “Since the AfD’s election successes, these people and their organisations have been experiencing rejection and hatred with an intensity that has not existed for a long time.” Hate emails and threatening letters are arriving at the associations’ offices, and staff are being insulted on the phone and in the street. The Lamsa network alone has recorded 85 counselling cases concerning racist threats in the current year – more than in the whole of the previous year. In the counselling sessions, the question also comes up: “Will security authorities whose actions the AfD is politically responsible for come to protect us?”
Commission, protection clause, protection fund
Specifically, the signatories demand three things. First, a federal-state commission for the protection of minorities, which is to clarify what dangers an AfD government could mean for people in Saxony-Anhalt and develop countermeasures. “It makes clear in advance how the rule of law reacts when a state government tries to test the limits of the constitution,” the letter says.
Second, residence requirements, for example for asylum seekers, should be lifted so that they can move away if they fear racist violence at their place of residence. The federal government must make clear that “a concrete racist, antisemitic, anti-Roma, anti-Muslim or right-wing extremist motivated threat is a hardship case and also makes it possible to move to another federal state”.
Third, a federal protection fund should support threatened non-profit institutions, associations, counselling centres, municipalities and initiatives – for example with emergency plans or structural measures. As a blueprint, the associations cite the 22 million euros that the federal government made available after the right-wing terrorist attack in Halle in 2019 to secure Jewish institutions. Taylor also criticised cuts to the federal “Demokratie leben!” programme, which she said would lead to fewer counselling services.
The associations’ reasoning also rests on the responsibilities of a state government: the AfD would have a say in areas such as the police and schools, the letter says. The letter closes with the appeal: “The Basic Law applies in Saxony-Anhalt as everywhere in Germany. For this promise to hold, precautions are needed before it is put to the test. Set limits and say today how the federal and state governments will enforce them.” The senders ask for a written reply within 14 days.
Whether and how the AfD actually gains government responsibility in Saxony-Anhalt is not decided by the letter – the associations describe a possibility for which they want to be prepared. The timing is nonetheless chosen deliberately: on Thursday, the state premiers will meet for the Conference of Minister-Presidents. There the open letter is likely to push onto the agenda – along with the question of whether the federal and state governments will present a concept for protecting minorities from a right-wing extremist state government.
