Berliner Tageszeitung - Birgit Bessin: Situation around federal and state asylum and refugee policy comes to a head

The AfD state chairwoman of Brandenburg, Birgit Bessin, assesses this as follows:

"It has taken more than 8 years - and one year before the important election marathon in 2024 - for the CDU and SPD to adopt some of our AfD demands on asylum and refugee policy. But those who merely limit themselves to stationary internal border controls and even more money have still not understood the actual extent of the overload, despite admonitions from district councillors, mayors and, above all, from the population.
That alone will not solve the problems. In our recently adopted position paper on asylum and refugee policy, we clearly show how we want to put the country back on the right track with a strong-willed AfD government (see attachment).

We need a fundamental paradigm shift in asylum and refugee policy. We don't want better management of migration flows to Germany, especially to Brandenburg, but we want a stop to it.

We demand: an end to the "welcome service" at the border and the land of milk and honey status. Brandenburg must put forward our own interests in asylum policy more strongly in the federal government and build up pressure. And we are ready to do that."

Here are our demands for the state level. The entire paper with further demands and explanations can be found in the appendix:
 
1) In order to relieve the burden on our municipalities and to put an end to the untenable and socially destructive conditions, the distribution key, the forced allocation of asylum and protection seekers to the districts and municipalities, must be suspended immediately. Furthermore, ideology-driven slogans that there will be no upper limit for the admission of refugees must be abandoned and instead migrants who are obliged to leave the country must be deported. The interests of Brandenburg and its people come first for us: We must counteract the cost explosions, the increased crime, the housing shortage and the completely overstretched infrastructure."  
 
2) ending all state admission programmes  
 
3) intensive investigation and prosecution in the case of the "Barnimer Bürger*innenasyl" and similar organisations: Hiding people from deportation is not civil disobedience. Aiding and abetting illegal residence by persons who incite people to commit such crimes are to be prosecuted for incitement or public solicitation to commit crimes.(1) In the case of the Barnimer Bürger*innenasyl (Barnimer Citizens' Asylum), deportation is deliberately and already successfully prevented in order to survive the Dublin deadline so that Germany becomes responsible for the asylum procedure.(2)
 
1 https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/149891/03-05-2018/buergerasyl-fluechtlinge-abschiebung  
2 https://afd-fraktion-brandenburg.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/4818.pdf   
 
4) Strengthen municipalities: Introduction of a "veto right" of municipalities in the distribution and reception of foreigners to strengthen the say of municipalities and thus democracy on the ground. Within the framework of the constitutionally guaranteed right to self-administration, Brandenburg's cities and municipalities should be granted more extensive rights of co-decision and co-determination with regard to the fulfilment of tasks under the Land Reception Act than they have had up to now. The
The state level has to examine and create the necessary conditions for this.  
 
5) Closure of asylum shelters in small communities/cities. 6) No new asylum shelters should be built.  
 
No new asylum shelters should be built.
 
6) gymnasiums, exhibition centres or other public facilities not previously intended for the accommodation of asylum seekers are not to be repurposed and used for the accommodation of so-called refugees.  
 
7) creation of a state objective provision in Article 2 of the constitution
 
The entire position paper of the AfD-Brandenburg on asylum and refugee policy can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ryrmi1sih5lbzp/AsylFl%C3%BCchtlingspolitik%20LaVo%20Brandenburg%2005052023.pdf?dl=0

(P.Hansen--BTZ)