Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the far right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) attends a state parliament session, a few weeks after the AFD emerged as the strongest party, in Erfurt, Germany, September 28, 2024.
Flyers designed as plane tickets labeled 'deportation ticket' for 'illegal immigrant' to 'safe country of origin'
Campaign materials draw criticism for similarity to Nazi-era tactics targeting Jews
Party defends distribution while polling at 22%, just 8 points behind leading conservatives
German police said Tuesday they are investigating after the far-right AfD distributed election campaign flyers in the style of one-way plane tickets to send migrants home.
The flyers are labelled "Deportation Ticket" and feature the passenger name as "Illegal Immigrant" and the destination as "Safe Country of Origin".
The AfD flyers, made to look like plane tickets, list the passenger as “illegal immigrant'”.AfD_Karlsruhe / X
AfD campaign demands -- such as cutting benefits for non-Germans and an end to "Islamisation" -- are also listed on the flyers distributed in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.
Several migrants have posted on social media about receiving the tickets over the past few days, although the AfD has denied specifically sending them to foreigners.
The campaign has sparked a backlash in Germany, with critics comparing the stunt to the one-way tickets to Jerusalem that were distributed by the Nazis in the 1930s.
A Karlsruhe police spokesman told AFP an investigation had been launched into the possible charge of incitement to hatred after a tip-off from a member of the public.
The AfD in Karlsruhe has said in a statement that the flyers were being distributed in the city "in as large a number as possible and without any special requirements or restrictions".
"It is intended to bring our demands in this area, which are fully in line with the law, to the attention of the voters," it said.
The AfD has been buoyed ahead of Germany's election on February 23 after winning the endorsement of US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
One survey at the weekend had the party polling at 22 percent, just eight points behind the CDU/CSU conservatives who are widely expected to lead the next government.
Emboldened by the support of Musk, the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and events in neighboring Austria -- where the far right is on the brink of power -- the AfD has been sharpening its rhetoric as the election campaign heats up.
At a party congress last weekend, the AfD's top candidate Alice Weidel explicitly called for the "remigration" of foreigners.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right AfD party
AFP
Marcel Bauer, a parliamentary candidate for the far-left Die Linke, accused the AfD of using "fascist methods to incite hatred".
"This threat against our fellow citizens must have consequences," he said.
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