The opposition centre-right CDU/CSU alliance in Germany is expected to put forward a motion in parliament on Wednesday, January 29th, under which illegal and undocumented migrants would be turned back at the country’s borders.
The alliance would need to gather a two-thirds majority for the bill to pass, and CDU leader Friedrich Merz has stressed that he does not care where the votes come from—meaning that he would in essence accept the votes of the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, thus breaking apart the so-called ‘firewall’ that mainstream parties have erected against the AfD.
“It’s up to the SPD and the Greens and the liberals to prevent majorities that none of us want,” Merz told a news conference on Monday, referring to the two parties of the government, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, as well as the opposition liberal FDP party.
The SPD said Merz’s move would be a breach of taboo with regards to cooperating with the AfD. The Social Democrats would refuse to enter into a coalition with the CDU/CSU alliance if Merz insists on tightening asylum policies that are in “violation of the constitution, European treaties and international law.”
As we recently reported, the centre-right’s move to halt illegal migration comes after yet another gruesome knife attack, in which a 2-year-old toddler and a 41-year-old man were murdered last week in the city of Aschaffenburg. The perpetrator was an Afghan failed asylum seeker, who should have been deported long ago.
The attack was the latest in a string of many knife crimes in the past year associated mainly with Afghan and Syrian migrants—many of whom should have been deported but were allowed to remain in Germany due to lax immigration policies.
Friedrich Merz says that politicians cannot wait until after the national elections on February 23rd, and must act decisively now, because “there are 40,000 asylum applicants who need to be deported,” and “there are ticking time bombs walking around our towns and communities.”
His party, which is leading opinion polls, is presenting a bill in parliament that would effectively halt all migrants at the border who do not have the right to enter Germany, or are genuine refugees but do not have documentation.
They are proposing the indefinite return to border controls at Germany’s borders, revoking the German nationality of dual citizens who have committed serious criminal offences, immediately taking into custody those who are required to leave the country, and creating the conditions for asylum procedures to take place outside Germany and the EU.
It is debatable whether Merz and his party are serious, or whether they are trying to lure away voters from the AfD which has been advocating such policies for many years. The right-wing party is currently polling at 22%, but it has little chance of entering government, as all other parties so far refused to work with it.
Together with the AfD, the FDP, as well as the left-wing nationalist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, Friedrich Merz has the possibility of cobbling together enough support for his initiative to gain a two-thirds majority. The latter two parties have expressed their support, while the AfD only supports it in principle, as it is waiting to see what the final draft will say.
Instead of bowing to the will of the electorate—66% of voters agree with turning back migrants at the border—the SPD and the Greens are more concerned that the AfD is allowed to play a part in making decisions about the country’s future.
“If Mr. Merz goes down the wrong national path, then the CDU has lost all direction,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, of the SPD, said.
The leftist parties also attacked Merz for going against EU laws, as his plan would be a direct rejection of the European policies of the Schengen Agreement, which does away with checks at internal EU borders. “If we start doing this, Europe breaks down,” the Greens’ foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also claimed that refusing migrants entry would be a “de facto abolition” of the right to asylum.
