Migrant groups urge protection plan as AfD eyes power in Saxony-Anhalt
Four associations wrote to Merz and state premiers, calling for a federal-state commission, a protection fund and the right for threatened people to relocate.
Archive image · Photo: Peter H. Feist / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Four migrant organizations have sent an open letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the premiers of Germany's 16 states. Signatories include the Turkish Community in Germany, the Federal Conference of Migrant Organizations, its eastern German umbrella group and the Saxony-Anhalt network LAMSA. The letter was prompted by the prospect of the far-right AfD joining the state government; domestic intelligence classifies the party's state branch as confirmed right-wing extremist.
The groups are calling for a joint federal-state commission on protecting minorities, a federal fund for threatened associations and initiatives, and an easing of residence requirements so that people at risk can move to other states. They pointed to the 22 million euros Berlin provided to protect Jewish institutions after the 2019 Halle attack. The letter says no plan yet exists to protect people who would be threatened by such a government.
LAMSA said it has handled 85 counseling cases involving racist threats so far this year, more than in all of last year. The letter was timed ahead of Thursday's meeting of state premiers, and the groups asked for a written reply within 14 days.