The alternative to Germany (AfD) has a clear view of immigrants, which also includes in its program: “AfD considers multiculturalism a serious threat to social peace and the preservation of the nation as a cultural entity.” However, multiculturalism does not seem to be a serious threat to the AfD itself: in recent months, far -right messages have been increased by voters from many German immigrant communities – and even some success.

Ismet Varou, 55, born in Turkey, has been living in Germany since his childhood, has been a German citizen since 1994 and a staunch supporter of the AFD far -right party since he was founded in 2013. His main concerns, as he says, are Reduction of taxes and expulsion of immigrants committing crimes.

The latter, however, is already happening in Germany: The latest statistics show that the Chancellor’s center -left Government Olf Salts has increased expulsions last year. “Now! Now they are chasing people! ” Says Var, drinking coffee in Cruitzburg, a well -known… Multi Culti area of ​​Berlin. “But they didn’t do it earlier.” He believes that the AFD intervened in the German political scene to act the government.

Varis experienced racism when he first came to Germany in the 1970s. He remembers a caretaker in the apartment building who told him that he and his family would not be there if Hitler was still in power: “But he didn’t mind. I was little, “he says.

Robert Lambrou: AFD is not xenophobic

In 2023, Robert Lambrou, also a member of the AfD in the Hesse State, founded an organization called “with a migratory background for Germany”, for AFD supporters. The organization’s website states that it has 137 members from more than 30 countries and is open to all those who “declare their faith in German culture as a dominant culture and work to maintain the existence of the nation as a cultural entity”.

“My experience with AfD is that it makes no difference whether someone has an immigration background or not,” 55 -year -old Lambrou, whose father was Greek, told DW. “I don’t see the party as xenophobic – we want a rational immigration policy.”

Refugee children for AfD

Anna Niguen has also experienced a lot of racism in Germany. Born near Kassel in 1990 to refugees from Vietnam, she now represents AfD in the Hesse State Parliament. But she insists that the Germans are not the ones who behave racist – they are mainly people she considers to be Arab. “During the Coronovirus pandemic, there were always people with a immigration background, probably Arabs, who were shouting” crown, crown! ” When we were releasing with a Chinese girlfriend, “he said. “It is true that on the internet I receive racist comments – but from the left, even though they call themselves anti -racists.”

Nguyen argues that her party is not interested in origin and does not target strategic voters like her. “It’s not about the immigration background,” he says. “It’s about the fact that all the rational people in this country want to prevent this green ideological madness. It’s about whether I can have a good life. Is there security? Do we have a steady power supply? “

Targeting new voter groups

Immigration voters are a demographic reality in Germany: official statistics of 2023 show that about 12% of the electorate in Germany has a non -German background – that is, about 7.1 million people. In 2016, about 40% of immigrant voters supported the center -left Social Democrats (SPD) and another 28% of the center -right Christian Democrats (CDU). But these trends seem to change.

According to the German Integration and Migration Research Center (Dezim), which is to publish a study of the electoral habits of immigrants in late January, there are no major differences in electoral behavior between people with or without immigration background. In the 2017 federal elections, 35% of German Turkish descent voted for the SPD, while 0% voted for AfD. Now, according to Dezim, immigrant voters are not voting for AfD neither more nor less than the Germans without immigration background.

Curated by: Chryssa Vachcevanou