The chairwoman of the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) faction in the Bavarian Landtag (regional parliament), Kathrin Ebner-Steiner, has spoken out in favor of the immediate expulsion of all Ukrainian refugees from Germany, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper reports.
To ensure that the country is not "flooded with welfare recipients who do not want to integrate", Steiner is calling for "comprehensive re-emigration". This means deporting all criminals and non-resident foreigners. According to Steiner, all Ukrainian refugees will have to leave Germany immediately, “even now“.
That would be 1.2 million people across Germany, most of them women and children, and up to 200,000 people in Bavaria, the publication notes. Ukraine, as the head of the AfD faction in the Bavarian Landtag said, is a large country and has “enough territories“ to which one can return.
Fences should also be built along the border with Germany, “if necessary”, as Steiner says. Cities and municipalities in Bavaria should be allowed to declare an “asylum emergency” to refuse to accept refugees. She also suggested providing aid to refugees exclusively in the form of goods instead of cash.
According to the German Federal Statistical Office, there were about 1.24 million Ukrainians in Germany at the end of August. Unlike asylum seekers from other countries, they have a special status in Germany and receive civil benefits.