145 Organizations appeal to the CDU

On the occasion of the party conference today in Berlin, a total number of 145 civil society organizations appealed to the CDU to commit to a human rights “firewall” and, during the election campaign, to refrain during from rhetoric and demands that “further divide our society and turn the people against each other.”

“The members of persecuted and threatened minorities and the survivors of appalling violence in the many war zones around the world who seek protection in Germany must be met with compassion, solidarity, and a clear stance. Instead, Merz’s CDU is engaging in politics on the backs of the weakest, letting itself be herded along by the AFD. The party is criminalizing and dehumanizing those towards whom we have a responsibility to protect,” criticized Sarah Reinke on behalf of the co-signing human rights organization Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). In Germany, there are many dedicated teachers, social workers, refugee helpers, and countless private individuals who have – for many years – volunteered to support exactly the people that the CDU is now trying to push out of the country. These committed people and their structures need to be strengthened, and not the AFD with its misanthropic and sometimes outright fascist hate rhetoric,” Reinke added.

“Refugees, immigrants, or people who were born here – we are all part of society. Civil rights and human rights either apply to all of us or not at all. The discussions about tightening citizenship regulations and residency and asylum laws, which are currently also being stoked up by the CDU, are a threat to this fundamental understanding. Polarizing and grossly unlawful demands regarding the rejection of asylum seekers at Germany’s internal borders, the abolition of family reunification for those entitled to subsidiary protection, the repatriation of people to war and crisis zones, and extensive arrests of all persons who are required to leave the country are not suitable to get a grip on the current societal challenges,” says the joint appeal to the CDU leaders and all participants of the party meeting.

“Stand by your Christian and democratic values ​​and preserve the rule of law and human rights for the benefit of everyone in Germany. Stand up for the human rights firewall – with words and deeds,” the organizations demanded.

The appeal was initiated by PRO ASYL and Handicap International, and co-signed by – among others – the Society for Threatened Peoples, the Paritätische Gesamtverband, Terre des Hommes, Diakonie Deutschland, and Caritas. The open letter, listing all signing organizations, can be found in the attachment.