Ahead of state election, refugee council concerned after AfD victory

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Refugee Council says the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt has cast a shadow over the state election due on September 20. “What happened there can happen here again,” the council warned, saying a far-right party could become the strongest political force and gain substantial influence.

The AfD more than doubled its vote share in Saxony-Anhalt, reaching 43.8% compared with 20.8% in 2021, according to preliminary results. The party also leads opinion polls in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, although it has so far remained below 40%.

The council called on people to defend democracy and human rights in everyday life, public spaces and at the ballot box. It said Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer’s appeal, “Be human!”, is more relevant than ever because democracy depends on how people treat one another, speak about others and defend human dignity and human rights.

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What happened there can happen here again.

The council said the Saxony-Anhalt result showed where political debate can lead when racist positions become increasingly normalized and the rights of people with a migration background are repeatedly placed up for debate. It criticized a pattern in which migrants are presented as a problem, deportations as political success and tougher asylum and residence rules as the supposed solution.

Democratic parties, the council said, bear responsibility for how they discuss flight and migration, and especially for how they speak about the people involved. But it added that responsibility does not rest with parties alone. Democracy cannot be taken for granted, it said, and needs people who stand up for an open society and object when others are degraded or deprived of rights.

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Be human!