SPD (Germany)

Government & Politics

German government nears deal with Taliban on deportations The German government is maintaining its tough stance on the deportation of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Critics say promises made to former personnel now at risk of reprisals should be honored.

September 19, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Despite strongly worded criticism from numerous aid organizations, the German government has now confirmed a report in the mass-circulation newspaper Bild that envoys of Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt are holding talks in Afghanistan with the ruling Islamist Taliban about deportations […]

Crime

German-Afghan relations under scrutiny over deportations The German government's policy of deporting Afghan criminals to Afghanistan relies on cooperation with the Taliban government in Kabul. The Islamists are hoping this is the first step toward diplomatic recognition.

July 24, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) “We have succeeded in organizing another deportation flight with convicted criminals to Afghanistan,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in a press release on July 18, following the departure of a plane from Leipzig to Kabul with 81 Afghan men with […]

Government & Politics

Germany urged to clarify refugee policy for Palestinians After having just lifted a controversial 18-month freeze on asylum rulings, Germany is being pressed to grant full refugee status to Palestinians as Israel's actions in Gaza claim ever more civilian casualties.

July 24, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Shafiq* is a Palestinian man who ended up in limbo after he managed to get out of Gaza and make his way via Egypt and Turkey to Germany, where he applied for asylum. The right to asylum is enshrined in […]

Government & Politics

German Cabinet approves stricter asylum measures The German government has proposed several new measures as it pushes on with plans to further curb irregular migration. This comes despite a legal setback this week when a court ruled pushbacks at the border unlawful.

June 4, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The German Cabinet on Wednesday approved several measures to tighten Germany’s asylum laws, including a plan to make it easier to determine “safe countries of origin” and thus to deport rejected asylum-seekers. This comes after another policy put in place […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Solingen knife attack trial set to begin The trial of a Syrian man accused of killing three people in a knife attack in the western city of Solingen last August has brought Germany's asylum policies and security loopholes into focus.

May 26, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The man accused of a mass stabbing at a festival in the western German city of Solingen is due to face court in the North Rhine-Westphalia capital of Dusseldorf. Federal prosecutors have charged Syrian Issa Al H. with three counts […]

Crime

Germany turns first asylum seekers away at border — report In the two days since the new German government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz tightened border controls, 19 people who had applied for asylum have reportedly been turned away.

May 11, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany has begun rejecting asylum seekers at its borders with other European countries, the first such action since the new government tightened immigration, a German newspaper reported Sunday. On Thursday and Friday, out of 365 undocumented entries at all borders, 286 migrants and […]

Government & Politics

German government denies report on ‘national emergency’ plan to curb migration 'The chancellor is not declaring a national emergency,’ government spokesman Stefan Kornelius tells BILD newspaper

May 8, 2025   

(Anadolu) The German government on Thursday denied a media report which said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz had declared a state of “national emergency” to restrict migration. “The chancellor is not declaring a national emergency,” government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told the BILD newspaper. […]

Academics & Education

German Greens push to abolish neutrality act, allowing headscarves for civil servants Greens in Berlin push to abolish the neutrality law, claiming it discriminates against Muslim women wearing headscarves and hampers their careers in public service.

April 24, 2025   

(Euronews) The Greens party’s group in the Berlin House of Representatives has made a motion calling for the abolition of the so-called Neutrality Act, a law that prohibits civil servants from visibly wearing or displaying religious symbols while at work. The 2005 […]

Government & Politics

Germany continues Afghan migrant flights despite coalition pledge The outgoing government continues to bring in migrants, sparking controversy over security risks and broken promises.

April 14, 2025   

(European Conservative) Germany’s government is moving forward with plans to bring in more Afghan migrants, despite the incoming CDU/CSU-SPD coalition’s promise to shut down these resettlement programs. A flight carrying over 150 Afghans is set to arrive in Leipzig soon, according to […]

Citizenship

Germany could withdraw citizenship due to ‘antisemitism’ 'Terror supporters, antisemites and extremists' could have their German citizenship revoked — if they hold a second nationality, according to planning documents. Critics of the move say it will lead to unequal treatment.

April 1, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The ongoing coalition negotiations between the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) are said to have been riddled with heated arguments — sometimes to the point of doors […]

Demographics

The left would have gained 70% in German elections had only Muslims voted The right will hardly stand a chance in Germany if demographic trends continue to be shaped by mass immigration.

February 27, 2025   

(European Conservative) An official study after the German elections showed that the country’s Muslim community (accounting for 6.6% of the German population) overwhelmingly supports left-wing parties, especially the far-left Die Linke and the social democratic SPD, primarily due to their immigration policies […]

Demonstrations

Munich car ramming attack by Afghan man heats migrant debate Police said the man from Afghanistan who allegedly drove his car into a crowd of people in Munich was motivated by Islamism.

February 14, 2025 , and   

(Deutsche Welle) On Thursday morning, a young man drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators in the center of Munich. The suspected perpetrator was named by police as 24-year-old Farhad N., an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. He was arrested at the scene and, […]

Government & Politics

Immigration: German voters want to accept fewer refugees A majority of Germans believe the country should accept fewer refugees, according to the latest Deutschlandtrend poll. However, most are in favor of EU-wide solutions and are against their country 'going it alone.'

January 31, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The date January 29, 2025, will be remembered for a long time in Germany. It was the day the conservative group comprising the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, the largest opposition force in the Bundestag, put forward a […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians Reports that suspect was a refugee from Saudi Arabia who hated Muslims raise complicated questions during German election campaign.

December 21, 2024 and   

(Politico) The German government is reeling from an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that saw at least five people killed when a car apparently driven by an “Islamophobic” Saudi Arabian refugee plowed into Friday evening crowds. With […]

Government & Politics

Deadly Magdeburg Christmas market attack shakes Germany as election looms With voters going to the polls in February, the tragedy ramps up concerns about security.

December 20, 2024 and   

(Politico) A driver plowed a car at high speed into crowds of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, adding further tension to an election campaign already riven by a bitter debate over migration. Right-wing parties seized […]

Government & Politics

Europe’s Syrians shaken by debate over repatriation to their war-ravaged homeland For many Syrian refugees in Europe, joy at the fall of Assad has been tempered by immediate calls for them to go home.

December 12, 2024   

(Politico) When Osama Sabsabi learned that opposition forces had captured the city of Homs, where he grew up, he did something that would have been unthinkable just days earlier: He booked a ticket home. “We, the Syrian people, are experiencing an indescribable […]

Government & Politics

German MPs to name Muslim Jew-hatred as antisemitism vector Coalition and opposition lawmakers agree to pass a text that acknowledges a politically inconvenient reality.

November 3, 2024   

(JNS) Germany’s coalition parties and the main opposition faction agreed on Saturday to pass a Bundestag resolution on antisemitism that for the first time will see the legislature name Muslim immigration as a driver of the problem. The draft resolution, which will […]

Government & Politics

Migration smashes into German elections after deadly knife attack Far-right Alternative for Germany eyes boost at the ballot box following killings which Chancellor Olaf Scholz described as 'terrorism.'

August 26, 2024   

(Politico) A knife attack allegedly perpetrated by a Syrian asylum seeker that authorities are investigating as a possible act of terrorism has renewed a heated debate over migration in Germany ahead of three state elections in which the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for […]

Government & Politics

German far right seizes on knife attack ahead of crucial state elections The AfD accuses the ruling coalition and the moderate center-right opposition of shortcomings on security.

August 24, 2024 and   

(Politico) A brutal knife attack in the German city of Solingen has reignited a debate about public security a week ahead of important state elections in eastern Germany, with the far right hammering the government coalition and other parties over alleged shortcomings. […]

Demonstrations

Germany debates deportations to Afghanistan, Syria A deadly knife attack that killed a police officer has triggered demands to allow deportations to Afghanistan. Anti-immigration rhetoric is being stepped up ahead of the elections for the European Parliament.

June 7, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) Colleagues, family and politicians converged on the city square in Mannheim on Friday to remember the young policeman who sustained deadly injuries one week ago. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid flowers. A 25-year-old man originally from Afghanistan, who is married […]

Demonstrations

Hamburg ‘caliphate’ rally prompts calls for punishment German politicians have called for action after reports of a rally in which speakers demanded Shariah law in Germany. A leading Bavarian conservative said such appeals should lead to jail time and citizenship removal.

May 1, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) A top Bavarian politician on Wednesday demanded tougher consequences for people advocating for Germany to become a “caliphate,” saying they should face prison terms and lose citizenship. Alexander Dobrindt, who heads Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Germany’s Bundestag, […]