Landmark: AfD presents its first bill in German parliament

The 92 Alternative for Deutschland delegates are seated on the far-right end of the delegate seating. It is the first time since 1933 that a "far-right" party has offered legislation in the Prussian-era edifice.

THE ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY PARTY HAS INTRODUCED A BILL aimed at permanently banning refugees from bringing their close relatives over from 'war-stricken' countries. The move sparked a spirited, sometimes impolite debate in the Bundestag. From Deutsche Welle:

Thursday marked a historical moment for the Reichstag. It was the first time since the old parliament building burned down in 1933 that a far-right party has been able to present a draft law in the venerable Prussian-era edifice, a building revamped and reopened for the new democratic age in reunified Germany during the 1990s.

Unsurprisingly, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) chose to present a bill to the chamber that reflected the key policy that has elevated them to the third-largest political force in the Bundestag: stopping immigration. Specifically, their bill was an alteration to Germany's Residence Act that would permanently ban refugees with "subsidiary protection" status from bringing over their close relatives from war-torn countries. 

Subsidiary protection is an intermediate status defined under European law, which "applies when neither refugee protection nor an entitlement to asylum can be granted and yet serious harm is threatened in the country of origin," as the German federal refugee agency BAMF puts it on its website. Once granted, it entitles the asylum seeker to a one-year residence permit, which can be extended on reapplication, as well as the right to work.

And to bring in close relatives. These close relatives often end up being unrelated people living in their home village.

"The incentives to come here must end," said AfD Bundestag member Gottfried Curio as he opened Thursday's 45-minute parliamentary debate. "The magnet must finally be turned off." Curio also argued that the system was being routinely abused by those with the status, and that many asylum seekers merely claim to be related, "according to the motto: we all come from the same village, where we're all somehow related." 

A member of the Left Party (former Communist Party that DW calls "Socialist" while calling AfD "Far Right") called AfD a "racist party" and the bill "anti-humanitarian."

A recent study by criminologists suggested that allowing refugees to live with their families might be a significant factor in reducing crime among young male migrants.

"People with subsidiary protection are people who have fled war and torture," said Bellinda Bartolucci, legal policy adviser for the refugee rights organization Pro Asyl. "It's not a status that is simply handed out — it requires specific circumstances in the country of origin that aren't just going to be sorted out over a few months. We're talking about people who we know are going to stay for years."

She went on to argue that it was inhumane to expect such people to be deprived of their family. "How are people supposed to integrate when they constantly fear for their families?" she told DW. "How is a young person supposed to concentrate on school, or on training?"

These are people who should stay with their families then, if it's too painful to be separated. If they are young students, it's not logical that they fled torture.

The AfD, though, opposes the integration of refugees on principle.

The AfD went on to add that any relatives of refugees who might be in danger back home in Syria or Afghanistan should instead move to "pacified, or uncontested zones in their home country, or else in protective camps in a neighboring country."