By Tabora Bojang
Gambian migrants in Germany are ‘deeply worried and concerned’ about leaked plans of the far right AfD party calling for the mass deportation of migrants and non-assimilated German citizens, Gambian migration activist Yaya Sonko told The Standard yesterday.
German investigative outlet Correctiv reported that politicians from the Alternative for Germany Party AfD, had a meeting with some extremists and neo-Nazi activists to discuss expelling immigrants and minorities out of Germany.
According to the reported “re-migration” plan, migrants will be forcefully deported to their countries of origin via mass deportation and will target citizens holding German passports who, Martin Sellner, a member of the Identitarian Movement, claims, “form aggressive, rapidly growing parallel societies.” Participants at the secret meeting also allegedly discussed deportations to an unnamed state in North Africa that would provide space for up to 2 million people and suggested that people who advocate for refugee rights could also be sent there.
These revelations were met with a huge backslash as demonstrators stormed the streets in their millions to condemn the reported plans and carry placards reading “Nazis out” among others.
Sonko, who lives in Berlin, said these reports were received with “shock and disbelief” as it reminisces the extremist policies of the Nazi era under Hitler.
“This is very scary because AfD is becoming the second largest political party in Germany. If you look at the meaning of their party, it means alternative for Germans.
They basically believe in a system that emphasises Germany for Germans. We are all worried. And many Germans are also equally worried because the plan is re-migration and mass deportation, which will not only affect undocumented migrants but equally even immigrants who already acquired German citizenship.
So, everyone is worried, that is why you can see hundreds of thousands of immigrants and German citizens coming out in different cities such as Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Hamburg and other big cities to protest against this,” Sonko explained.
He claimed that the AfD party is poised to take Germany back to the Hitler period in which discrimination, racism and extremism prevails.
“But that is no longer possible in this country. Germany is beyond that now. Immigrants and migrants have contributed a lot to the development of this country. They have contributed to the day to day living of the citizens. In fact, 70 percent of the labour market is in the hands of immigrants, they are the skilled workers, they are the electricians, the plumbers, the health care workers, and careers of the elderly. So to think of a plan to see the deportation of millions of immigrants would also tantamount to punishment for the country,” he said.
Sonko concluded: “The AfD needs to understand and accept the fact that the world is a global village and in this global world people can migrate freely anywhere they want. They need to open their arms and accept the fact that people are moving and it is their right to do so.”
