Germany’s far-right AfD face mounting protests over plan to deport migrants

Huge crowds of protesters are set to descend on cities in Germany this weekend, as demonstrations calling for a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gain momentum.

Huge crowds of protesters are set to descend on cities in Germany this weekend, as demonstrations calling for a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gain momentum. Tens of thousands have already braved sub-zero temperatures this week to protest against the party, after it emerged senior AfD members discussed a plan to deport migrants en masse in revelations that have been compared to the Nazi era. Protests of up to 30,000 people have already taken place in cities including Berlin, Leipzig, Rostock, Essen and Cologne. Demonstrators gathered outside the capital’s redbrick town hall on Wednesday holding placards reading “Nazis out” and chanting slogans against far-right AfD politician Björn Höcke. People are enraged by reports that senior members of the AfD discussed a ”master plan” for the mass deportation of German asylum-seekers and German citizens of foreign origin during a meeting late last year. The gathering of AfD members, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists took place at a lakeside hotel outside the city of Potsdam on November 25. It did not come to light until January 10, when the meeting was revealed by the investigative journalism network Correctiv, sparking a wave of protests across Germany.