The AfD gave the Verwaltungsgericht Köln in February a specific number to explain what its speakers mean by “millionenfache Remigration”: two million. They said it’s everyone currently required to leave Germany, plus everyone who arrived from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The court recorded the party’s explanation at Rn. 57 and then at Rn. 268 replied that the number of people required to leave falls far short of the number. The party had actually been counting by country of origin. Mind the gap.
Seven months later Friedrich Merz said in the Bundestag what everyone knows the word means.
Meine Damen und Herren, das Wort “Remigration” ist nichts anderes als ein Synonym für ethnische Säuberung nach Herkunft und Hautfarbe.
Ladies and gentlemen, the word “remigration” is nothing other than a synonym for ethnic cleansing by origin and skin colour.
Plenarprotokoll 21/92, S. 11376. The AfD roared an objection from the benches. How dare they be held accountable for the words they use? How dare someone stop the wordplay and expose their propaganda?
Bernd Baumann: “Das ist rechtsstaatlich!” and “Das fordert kein Mensch!” Beatrix von Storch, as Merz said more deportations were coalition policy, claimed up was down: “das ist Remigration!” The next day the Fraktion filed a criminal complaint for “verleumderische Beleidigung.” Its press release describes the accusation as one of “Vertreibungen und Morde.” The party of hate speech supplied both words, claiming it was a crime to simply say back to them plainly the words they had laced with misdirection.
Uber Alice instead of Alles? Yeah, the Nazi pun is not funny AfD.
The word Remigration has a simple history.
| Source | What “remigration” means there |
|---|---|
| Latin, remigrare | To go back, to return home. A voluntary act. |
| Netherlands, Remigratiewet, Staatsblad 1999/232 | A monthly allowance for immigrants who choose to return to their country of origin. The government’s explanatory memorandum calls the decision “een geheel vrijwillig en persoonlijk besluit.” |
| German exile studies. Marita Krauss, Heimkehr in ein fremdes Land. Geschichte der Remigration nach 1945, C.H. Beck 2001 | The return of people who fled political, racial or religious persecution under the Nazis and survived in exile. |
| Unwort des Jahres 2023, jury statement, 15 January 2024 | A term from migration and exile research covering mainly voluntary return, “darunter die Rückkehr jüdischer Menschen aus dem Exil nach 1945,” taken over by the right as a euphemism for the expulsion of people with a migration history, citizens included. Guest juror Ruprecht Polenz, former CDU general secretary: the word hides “die Deportation aller Menschen mit vermeintlich falscher Hautfarbe oder Herkunft, selbst dann, wenn sie deutsche Staatsbürger sind.” |
| Carl Schmitt, 1926 preface to Die geistesgeschichtliche Lage des heutigen Parlamentarismus | Democracy requires homogeneity and therefore “Ausscheidung oder Vertreibung des Heterogenen.” Sellner cites him as the source of his concept. |
| Martin Sellner’s concept, as read by the Bundesverwaltungsgericht, 6 A 4.24, Rn. 100 to 103 | Three groups: asylum seekers, foreigners with residence, and 5 to 6 million German citizens judged unassimilated. Moved by “Assimilationsdruck,” a “strenge De-Islamisierungspolitik,” “struktureller Druck” on the Danish ghetto-law model, and loss of the passport, with statelessness “durchaus denkbar.” The court’s finding: “Staatsbürger zweiter Klasse,” “menschenwürdewidrig.” |
| AfD Bundesvorstand, Positionspapier, 29 January 2024 | “Rückführung ausreisepflichtiger Ausländer in ihre Heimat.” Point 3 of the same paper names people “aus Syrien und Afghanistan stammend” as “großes Remigrations-Potential.” Point 6 makes residence depend on earning a living. |
The AfD adopted the word after courts had put its meaning on the record, perhaps because it was so clear what effect it had.
| Date | Statement or ruling |
|---|---|
| August 2018 | Björn Höcke, Nie zweimal in denselben Fluss: a “groß angelegtes Remigrationsprojekt,” to be carried out with “wohltemperierter Grausamkeit.” The OVG Münster later quotes his “gesamteuropäisches Remigrationsprojekt” and “Remigrationsprogramme, die natürlich De-Islamisierungsprogramme inkludieren” (p. 66). |
| September 2019 | Christina Baum, now MdB: “eine sofortige Rückführung – Remigration, damit Deutschland weiter leben kann,” introduced with “Eine Arabisierung/Islamisierung findet n i c h t statt.” OVG Münster, p. 67. |
| Summer 2023 | AfD Europawahlprogramm 2024 adopted in Magdeburg with the chapter “Remigration statt Talentabwerbung,” as the party’s own Positionspapier records. |
| 25 November 2023 | Potsdam. Roland Hartwig, Gerrit Huy, Ulrich Siegmund and Tim Krause in the room while Sellner presents the three groups. |
| 30 November 2023 | Matthias Helferich, elected on the AfD list, in the Bundestag: “Wer es gut mit Deutschland meint, fordert Remigration, millionenfache Remigration, ein Bündel von politischen Maßnahmen, welche friedlich und rechtsstaatlich die Demografie harmonisieren, die Identität des Staatsvolkes … erhalten und die Transformation in einen Vielvölkerstaat verhindern.” Plenarprotokoll 20/141, S. 17783. |
| 18 December 2023 | AfD Bundesverband celebrates a “Tag der Remigration”: “Wer für seinen eigenen Lebensunterhalt aufkommt, sich anpasst und unsere Gesetze und Gebräuche respektiert, kann bleiben.” VG Köln, Rn. 267. |
| 15 January 2024 | “Remigration” named Unwort des Jahres 2023. |
| January 2024 | The AfD Fraktionschefs of the eastern Landtage, Höcke and Siegmund among them: “Remigration ist kein Unwort.” They pledge more “Assimilationsdruck auf nichtintegrierte Ausländer.” Siegmund: “Die Sozialmigration nach Deutschland muss beendet und rückabgewickelt werden.” |
| 29 January 2024 | Bundesvorstand Positionspapier. Core sentence limited to ausreisepflichtige Ausländer; points 2, 3 and 6 reach people with legal status. |
| 13 May 2024 | OVG Münster, 5 A 1218/22: Höcke’s wording “legt … zumindest nahe, dass auf lange Sicht auch deutsche Staatsangehörige mit Migrationshintergrund Deutschland verlassen sollen.” Baum’s demand “knüpft nicht an die ausländische Staatsangehörigkeit an, sondern an die arabische Abstammung und den islamischen Glauben.” The party’s “7 Punkte zur Remigration” leaflet “belegt lediglich, dass der Begriff … in verschiedener Art und Weise gebraucht werden kann” (pp. 66 to 67). |
| 14 August 2024 | Bundesverwaltungsgericht, 6 VR 1.24, Rn. 40: Sellner’s concept strips people of social respect “anknüpfend an ihre ethnische Herkunft, an ihre Religionsausübung und letztlich auch an Gesichtspunkte wie ‘Rasse’.” |
| 11 January 2025 | Riesa. The word enters the Bundestag program by floor amendment, over the Vorstand’s draft. Alice Weidel: “Wenn es dann Remigration heißen soll, dann heißt es eben Remigration.” |
| 24 June 2025 | Bundesverwaltungsgericht, 6 A 4.24, Rn. 145: the concept “sieht Ausbürgerungen als Mittel zur Schaffung eines ethnisch-deutschen Volkes … vor.” Rn. 108: Sellner himself says it is “gerade nicht nur um die Abschiebung Illegaler.” |
| November 2025 | Founding congress of the AfD youth organisation Generation Deutschland, Gießen. Board member Julia Gehrckens: “Nur millionenfache Remigration schützt unsere Frauen und Kinder!” |
| January 2026 | Lena Kotré, AfD MdL Brandenburg, on stage with Sellner: “Brauchen wir wirklich 82 Millionen Menschen in diesem Land? Reichen nicht erstmal 60 Millionen aus?” |
| 26 February 2026 | VG Köln, 13 L 1109/25, Rn. 57: the party explains “millionenfach” as over two million, “aus derzeit Ausreisepflichtigen sowie Zugewanderten aus Syrien, Afghanistan und der Ukraine.” Rn. 268: “ausreisepflichtige Personen in entsprechender Anzahl auf dem Gebiet der Bundesrepublik nicht vorhanden sind.” |
| April 2026 | AfD Sachsen-Anhalt Regierungsprogramm. A “Rückkehr zum Abstammungsprinzip” in citizenship law (p. 38). Ausbürgerung of dual nationals “zum Regelfall” (p. 39). “Abschiebung ausreisepflichtiger Ausländer unter staatlichem Zwang,” a Stabsstelle für Remigration and a Remigrationsbeauftragter (pp. 46 to 47). A “Remigrationsoffensive für in Sachsen-Anhalt lebende Ukrainer” (p. 49). |
| 9 September 2026 | Merz in the Bundestag. The same day, deputy federal spokesman Stefan Möller calls it an equation with “mörderischen ethnischen Säuberungen.” |
| 10 September 2026 | Stephan Brandner files the criminal complaint on behalf of “jedes einzelne Mitglied” of the Fraktion and “Millionen Bürger.” |
The UN Commission of Experts defined ethnic cleansing in 1993 (S/25274, para. 55) as “rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area.” Each element of that definition maps to the AfD public record.
| UN definition, 1993 | The record |
|---|---|
| “rendering an area ethnically homogeneous” | Bundesverwaltungsgericht, Rn. 145: “Schaffung eines ethnisch-deutschen Volkes.” Helferich, Bundestag, 30 November 2023: “die Identität des Staatsvolkes erhalten und die Transformation in einen Vielvölkerstaat verhindern.” Kotré, January 2026: 60 million instead of 82. |
| “by using force or intimidation” | Sachsen-Anhalt program, p. 46: “unter staatlichem Zwang.” Sellner via Bundesverwaltungsgericht, Rn. 102: “Assimilationsdruck,” “struktureller Druck,” “Remigrationsdruck.” Höcke, 2018: “wohltemperierter Grausamkeit.” Eastern Fraktionschefs, January 2024: more “Assimilationsdruck.” |
| “to remove persons of given groups” | VG Köln, Rn. 57: Syrians, Afghans, Ukrainians. Positionspapier, point 3: “aus Syrien und Afghanistan stammend.” OVG Münster, p. 67: “arabische Abstammung und den islamischen Glauben.” Bundesverwaltungsgericht, Rn. 40: “ethnische Herkunft,” “Religionsausübung,” “Rasse.” |
| “from the area” | Höcke via OVG Münster, p. 67: citizens with migration background “Deutschland verlassen sollen.” Sellner via Bundesverwaltungsgericht, Rn. 100 and 101: “Rückabwicklung des Migrationsgeschehens,” “Auffang- und Ankerzentren.” |
Article 46 of the Grundgesetz shields a member of the Bundestag from prosecution for anything said in the chamber, with one exception, “verleumderische Beleidigungen.” The Reichsstrafgesetzbuch of 1871 used those exact words as the title of §187, Verleumdung: a false statement of fact, made knowing it is false.
Merz’s sentence is an opinion about what a political term means, and §187 reaches only statements of fact. The facts under the opinion are true on the AfD’s own filings and programs. Knowledge of falsity is impossible when a federal court and the Unwort jury said the same thing first. Brandner’s release names the injured parties as “jedes einzelne Mitglied” of the Fraktion and “Millionen Bürger.” The Bundesverfassungsgericht ruled in 1995 (1 BvR 1476/91) that a group of that size is beyond defamation as individuals. The complaint text is its own failure.
It’s all evidence that the AfD complains loudest when they understand things least. Perhaps the point is they have nothing other than noise to use. It’s like saying “we are unfit to lead” as a campaign to lead, so they can be unaccountable for failing to lose and then failing to lead.
Historians Andreas Rödder and Michael Wolffsohn in particular are relevant here because they objected that ethnic cleansing implies violence. The 1993 definition says force or intimidation. The Sachsen-Anhalt program says “unter staatlichem Zwang.” Höcke wrote “Grausamkeit.” An Abschiebung is carried out by police. Think about that under the AfD.
The NSDAP program of 24 February 1920 made citizenship a matter of blood (point 4), placed everyone else under a separate Fremdengesetzgebung (point 5), reserved the right to expel non-citizens when food ran short (point 7), and demanded that everyone who had immigrated since 2 August 1914 “sofort zum Verlassen des Reiches gezwungen werden” (point 8). The AfD’s Sachsen-Anhalt program demands a return to citizenship by descent and a Remigrationsbeauftragter to manage departures.
The BVerwG found pressure, loss of citizenship and departure to “Herkunftsländer,” applied to people selected by “ethnische Herkunft” and “Rasse,” for the purpose of “Schaffung eines ethnisch-deutschen Volkes.”
In English that is ethnic cleansing
The word Remigration is being claimed as new, as if the AfD should be allowed to put a new face on an old race-based ethnic cleansing program of 1920.