This was not an unusual statement from the AfD, which is strongly anti-immigrant and populist. Other statements made by Weidel in the interview streamed on July 7 on public television were also consistent with the conspiracy theory promoted by the party that white Europeans are being replaced with migrants, in particular, with Muslims.

A well-known AfD policy objective linked to this theory of replacement is 'Remigration' – the expulsion of non-ethnically European immigrants to their country of origin, seen as necessary to combat 'replacement'.

AfD members are renowned for making racist statements. Many have been convicted of crimes such as using Nazi slogans, inciting hatred and other "unconstitutional activities". The AfD itself has been classified as a "suspected right-wing extremist" group.

That has not harmed the party – for the past year, polls of voter intentions have consistently put the AfD in second place behind the Christian Democrats. For better or worse, as their popularity grows, more people are taking notice of what Weidel and her co-leader Tino Chruppala – as potential candidates to be Germany’s next Chancellor – have to say.

Also read: Immigrant members of Germany’s right-wing AfD party seek to dispel accusations of racism

What did Alice Weidel say?

During the interview on the state broadcaster ZDF, Weidel repeated some of the party’s standard claims – such as that generous social benefits create a "pull factor" for migrants, and that hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals are still in Germany who should have been deported. She also singled out Afghans as having the highest crime rate.

InfoMigrants has fact-checked some of Weidel’s statements. Here is what we found.

1.

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Claim:          

"…We have exploding crime figures, foreigner criminality (and) migrant violence, because we have open borders…"

"… Afghans are the people with the highest crime rate …"

InfoMigrants fact check: 

Omitting context, false or misleading.

Overall, crime has gone up in Germany, according to the Federal Criminal Police (BKA), although the rate of increase has slowed since 2022.

The BKA says the higher crime rate is probably due to factors such as increased mobility since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, financial hardship resulting from high inflation and social problems, especially among young people. It is also "plausible" that an increase in crime by foreign nationals is linked to immigration.

Statistically, while the majority of those convicted of criminal offenses in 2023 were German citizens, non-German citizens had a higher crime rate in proportion to their percentage of the population.

Afghan citizens were the largest group of non-German offenders, committing 2.7 percent of criminal offenses in 2023, according to BKA figures, while comprising just under half a percent of the population.

BKA criminologists have tried to understand what is behind the disproportionately high rates of crime among foreign nationals. In the latest analysis of crime statistics in the context of immigration, they conclude that the phenomenon may be due to additional risk factors experienced by asylum seekers, including "the living situation in initial reception centers, as well as economic insecurity and experiences of violence."

Proportionately higher crime rates among refugees and asylum seekers are also attributable to the fact that young men – who typically commit more offenses than others – are overrepresented among those seeking protection, with the exception of refugees from Ukraine. One reason for this is that young men are more likely to make long, dangerous journeys to seek international protection in the hope of bringing their family members later through the legal family reunion route.

The BKA analysis covering the period January through September 2023, reveals that in most cases of fatal offenses such as murder, attempted murder and manslaughter committed by immigrants, the victims were also immigrants. More than one in five of these offenses happened in collective accommodation centers.

Germany’s borders are not "open", contrary to what Weidel said.

As a rule, under the German Residence Act, everyone but European Union citizens and a small number of other exceptions has to have a visa to enter the country, unless they ask for international protection.

Under the Schengen Borders Code, EU citizens are meant to be able to move without restrictions, and the Schengen zone is sometimes referred to as having "open borders". However, countries have been applying border controls for years to try to prevent undocumented migrants from crossing undetected. Germany currently has border checks in place at the land borders with Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Poland. Countries in the Schengen zone – unsatisfied with the provision allowing for temporary border checks – recently agreed to tighten the rules so that, in future, many undocumented migrants apprehended at internal borders could be detained at the border and sent back.

2.

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Claim:          

"… There are 300,000 people required to leave the country …"

InfoMigrants fact check: 

False.

The 300,000 figure has been cited often, notably by the Christian Democrat party’s Friedrich Merz last August.

The claim was also made by Tino Chrupalla, the co-chair of the AfD, in an interview on the program Tagesschau.

A fact-check by Tagesschau found the figure to be incorrect. As of the end of 2023 there were 242,642 people in Germany without permission – some were foreign students, employees or tourists whose visas had expired, while around 60 percent were asylum seekers who had received a negative decision.

Tagesschau pointed out, however, that not all rejected asylum seekers are required to leave the country. A large proportion – around 80 percent – have either a 'temporary suspension of deportation' (Duldung) because there is a legal or practical reason they cannot be removed, or a 'deportation ban' under Section 60 of the German Residence Act.

This states that no one can be deported to a country where there is a risk of persecution, torture or the death penalty. The figure of over 240,000 includes tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan, Russia and Iran who cannot be sent back.

According to Tagesschau, the total number of people who are required to leave Germany immediately and could therefore be deported is only around 48,700, some of whom may have already left voluntarily.

3.

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Claim:          

"… No other country in the world has such a welfare state as the Federal Republic of Germany …"

InfoMigrants fact check: 

False.

The usual measure of how much is spent on social benefits is the public social expenditure-to-GDP ratio. By this calculation, Germany is far from being at the top the list.

According to the OECD’s latest published figures, France spends a higher proportion of its gross domestic product on benefits in disability, aged care, sickness, unemployment, housing, health, family and other social policy areas than any other country in the group of 18 rich nations in Europe and North America.

Italy, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and the USA are also ahead of Germany.

Was Weidel talking about Germany’s basic income support or social security benefit, known as 'Bürgergeld'?

International comparisons of social assistance are difficult because systems are regulated differently (some incorporate rent assistance, for example), and the cost of living varies significantly between countries. Recent studies comparing social security benefits in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, have come to different conclusions about which is most generous.

Germany does stand out as being the only country in Europe that provides social security benefits to "rejected asylum seekers", according to the national broadcaster, Deutschlandfunk. This is because after three years (previously 18 months), those who have received a negative asylum decision but are not required to leave Germany because they have 'Duldung' status are treated the same as German welfare recipients. Around 720,000 people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine also receive Bürgergeld, according to official figures.

Weidel may have been referring to this form of income support for people who are legally in Germany but do not have settled status and are 'geduldet' (tolerated) as well as refugees from Ukraine. As she made no mention of non-immigrant, German welfare recipients, her criticism appears to be aimed not at how much the state spends on social security, but at who is entitled to receive it.

The statement itself, that Germany has a welfare state like none other worldwide, implying that it is the most generous, is false.

4.

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Claim:          

"… Two-thirds of foreigners receive social benefits ('Bürgergeld')…"

InfoMigrants fact check: 

False.

According to the research institute of the German employment agency (IAB), in March 2024, less than one quarter (21%) of the foreign population was receiving social benefits ('Bürgergeld').

(Asylum applicants are not included as they receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act.)

What did Weidel mean by "foreigners"? If she was including second-generation migrants (German-born, but with one or both parents born in another country – referred to in Germany as people "with a migration background"), as well as first-generation, i.e. foreign-born migrants, the number receiving regular social benefits would be 62 percent.

This is still under two-thirds, but close. However, it is plainly incorrect to count people who were born and raised in Germany and those with German citizenship as "foreigners". Weidel’s statement is, therefore, false.

Read more: How much welfare do migrants get and is it a 'pull factor'?

This story was updated on July 22, 2024 to reflect an inaccuracy in the explanation contained in Claim 2. We had originally implied that a Duldung could be issued when a country of origin is not safe. However, a Duldung, which is issued under the Residence act is only issued when there are legal and practical barriers, such as the person is sick, there are no planes flying to their country, etc. A deportation ban is issued when the person would be at risk to life and limb or liberty if returned to their own country.