German far-right AfD MP defends sending out campaign flyers resembling deportation tickets

Record ID: 1901646

  • Title: German far-right AfD MP defends sending out campaign flyers resembling deportation tickets
  • Date: 15th January 2025
  • Summary: BERNHARD WALKING VARIOUS OF BERNHARD HOLDING DEPORTATION PLANE TICKET FLYER CLOSE OF DEPORTATION PLANE TICKET FLYER DEPORTATION PLANE TICKET FLYER (German) "DEPORTATION TICKET / PASSENGER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT / FROM: GERMANY / TO: SAFE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN" (SOUNDBITE) (German) MEMBER OF THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT MARC BERNHARD FROM THE GERMAN PARTY ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY (AFD) SAY
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2025 17:17
  • Keywords: AfD Alternative for Germany German Elections Immigration
  • Location: KARLSRUHE, GERMANY / INTERNET
  • City: KARLSRUHE, GERMANY / INTERNET
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001341715012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The head of a district association of the German far-right AfD party has defended a local flyer campaign with mock deportation plane tickets issued to what the party calls "illegal immigrants".
    Marc Bernhard, who is also a member of the German parliament, said the association's goal was to bring the topic of deportation back into the political discussion ahead of the February 23 general election.
    In the southwestern German town of Karlsruhe, flyers designed to look like plane tickets issued to "illegal immigrants" to leave Germany for "safe countries of origin" were delivered to letterboxes.
    Previous reports that the flyers were delivered specifically to people with migrations background were not confirmed by the AfD, which issued a statement saying the flyers were delivered without any guidelines or restrictions in Karlsruhe.
    "These flyers are election campaign flyers and are of course aimed at voters to simply bring this issue to the top. You simply have to see, when you put a normal flyer in the letterbox, who looks at them? But this one attracts attention", said Bernhard to Reuters on Wednesday (January 15).
    "I don't think we have overshot the mark. It's just that there was a bit of distorted reporting about it, to begin with where they just showed the front page. But the flyer consists of the front and the back. On the back side, there are demands that are in line with the law and actually only demand what is written in the law."
    The German police has started an official investigation into incitement to hatred regarding the flyers, less than one month ahead of the snap election with polls currently seeing the AfD in second place.
    (Production: Maximilian Schwarz, Timm Reichert, Susanne Neumayer-Remter, Anna Dittrich)
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