At secret meeting, far-right German party AfD discusses plan to deport millions of immigrants

A secret meeting of German and Austrian right-wing extremists last November discussed alleged plans to deport millions of German citizens with roots abroad, according to a Wednesday report by the German investigative center Correctiv.

At the meeting in a hotel in Potsdam, near Berlin, German AfD politicians are said to have discussed a master plan with the Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner and private supporters for the expulsion of millions of immigrants from Germany, said Correctiv, a nonprofit newsroom.

Two members of the conservative German party CDU were also present at the secret meeting, it said. The AfD and CDU both sit in the German parliament, and the CDU is the party of Angela Merkel, the longtime chancellor who retired from politics in 2021.

At the meeting, the investigative center, which was present undercover, was able to speak with various participants.

According to the unnamed sources, the meeting focused primarily on a far-right concept presented by Sellner, so-called "remigration," which was said to include German citizens with immigrant roots.

If put into practice, the reported plan would affect millions of people in Germany.

According to the report, the participants of the meeting debated how exactly it could be implemented if the AfD were to govern Germany.

According to Correctiv, Sellner said that he believes there are three groups of migrants who should leave Germany: asylum seekers, foreigners with the right to stay, and "non-assimilated citizens," including German citizens with immigrant roots.

The Austrian right-wing extremist is said to have suggested at the meeting that these people should be deported to an area of North Africa, to a "model state" that could accommodate up to 2 million people.

Sellner is also said to have suggested that those who support refugees in Germany could be taken there.

The AfD, which is now polling at more than 20% support in Germany, has been classified as a suspected right-wing extremist party by the German domestic intelligence service.

Individual state associations and the party's youth organization have been designated as confirmed right-wing extremist by the domestic intelligence service.