GERMANY: Migration law proposal rejected despite far-right support ― Thousands protest against co-operation with far right ― Increase in right-wing extremist violence in 2024

• The German parliament has narrowly rejected a migration law that was proposed by the conservative opposition and supported by the far-right.
• Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against mainstream political parties’ co-operation with the far-right following a historic vote in parliament.
• New data on extremist violence has revealed worrying developments in 2024.

The German parliament has narrowly rejected a migration law that was proposed by the conservative opposition and supported by the far-right. The proposal, which sought to curb migration numbers and the right to family unity, was defeated by 350 votes to 338 on 31 January, two days after a non-binding motion on restricting migration was approved. The vote on 29 January was historic as it was the first time that a proposal had been passed in parliament as a result of support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and marked a historic breach of the “firewall” on co-operating with the far right. Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz has faced criticism for not shunning the AfD’s support but he has defended his actions as “necessary” and denied actively courting the far-right party. “A right decision doesn’t become wrong just because the wrong people agree to it,” he said. Commenting on the vote on 31 January, the head of ECRE member organisation Diakonie Deutschland, Rüdiger Schuch, said: “This is a victory of reason and a clear signal against a dam bursting. It is not acceptable to take into account the support of parties that reject our basic democratic order and a migration policy based on the rule of law,” while ECRE member organisation Der Paritätische Gesamtverband said: “The proposed changes are all either incompatible with the German Constitution or European legal rulings, unfeasible, and above all, ineffective”.

Following the votes, thousands of people took to streets to protest against mainstream political parties’ co-operation with the far-right. On 2 February, an estimated 160,000 people protested outside parliament and later in front of the CDU’s headquarters. The next day, 145 organisations, including ECRE member organisations Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), Der Paritätische Gesamtverband, Diakonie Deutschland, PRO ASYL and Terre des hommes, issued an appeal to the CDU to “stand up for the human rights firewall”, referring to the longstanding agreement that mainstream parties would not co-operate with the far right. “Last week, the firewall against the right was torn down solely for electoral motives. We are still appalled and stunned that one of the most important agreements after the end of the Nazi regime was terminated for something as short-sighted as the hope of personal political advantage,” said the head of AWO, Michael Groß. His comments were echoed by Der Paritätische Gesamtverband. “The CDU introduced these motions and the draft law in the Bundestag, fully aware that they could only be passed with the votes of a party that is, in part, right-wing extremist. This is inexcusable,” it said. In addition, the head of PRO ASYL, Halima Gutale delivered a clear message to the CDU and to the wider public. “All CDU members are obliged to turn back. Defend the human dignity of all people! The encouraging protests throughout the country show that we all have to be the firewall – against right-wing extremists and nationalists,” she said.

New data on extremist violence has revealed worrying developments in 2024. According to provisional figures published by the Ministry of the Interior in response to an information request from the Left group (Die Linke) in parliament, there were 218 “politically-motivated attacks” against asylum accommodation facilities in 2024. This figure includes incidents in which the accommodation was either the target of the attack or the place where an attack or crime against a person seeking asylum took place. The ministry’s response to the information request also showed that the number of politically-motivated attacks against refugees and people seeking asylum away from official accommodation centres had decreased by 21% in 2024 but still remained at 1,905. In addition, there was an overall increase in crimes of an “extreme right-wing nature” from 28,945 in 2023 to 33,963 in 2024.

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