Agricultural Minister Cem Özdemir, of the far-left Green Party, has sparked a fierce debate in Germany after calling for the country to rethink its migration policy and claims his daughter is being sexually harassed by men with a “migration background.”
Özdemir did not just make the comments offhand during an interview, but actually wrote them out in a guest column for FAZ, writing that his daughter, who is graduating from school next year, faces harassment from migrants and men with a migration background.
“When she is out and about in the city, she or her friends are often unpleasantly stared at or sexualized by men with a migrant background,” he wrote.
The father writes that his daughter has developed a “thick skin” due to these attacks, “but I can feel how it bothers her,” he wrote, adding “how disappointed she is that the underlying issues are not addressed more openly: the patriarchal structures and the role of women in many Islamic countries.”
Not only is his party known as one of the most pro-open borders parties in Germany, but Özdemir himself is of Turkish origin.
“We need to know who is in the country. We need to ensure that only those who are allowed to be here are in the country,” he demanded. He said that he now takes issue with Germany’s asylum policy.
He further notes that his daughter is reluctant to discuss the issue of harassment and foreigners because she doesn’t want “right-wing radicals to capitalize on it.” And she wants “it to be recognized that a lot of migrants and refugees are doing everything they can to arrive here quickly, working hard and getting involved.”
He is now calling for a rethink on asylum policy, saying often the strongest and most aggressive who make it to Europe are given the most benefits.
“The liberal-progressive camp is called upon to implement the necessary changes to asylum and migration practices, precisely because it can do so credibly without the appearance of false motives. This includes, first and foremost, the admission that the asylum practice of the past decade has increasingly developed into a right of the strongest,” he writes.
In the eyes of the minister, incidents such as the attack in Solingen must wake us all up. He writes: “We must know who is in the country. We must ensure that only those who are allowed to be here are in the country.”
Apparently, his daughter suffering from Germany’s open borders policy due to some sexual harassment is enough for him to “rethink” asylum policy. Meanwhile, thousands of women have been violently raped, sexually assaulted, and outright assaulted since 2016 in ever-increasing numbers, mainly due to policies such as those advanced by his party.
Remix News has covered this topic in-depth and has showcased videos that are far worse than anything Özdemir claims his daughter has experienced.
The fact that she is a top politician’s daughter also affords her more potential protections should she ever truly be threatened.
“As a father, I don’t want to, as a politician I can’t,” the agriculture minister writes clearly. “If we want to give an answer to what they experience and are concerned about in their everyday lives, we must first do one thing: say what is.”
The Green Party minister also worried about the AfD benefitting, which may be why he is choosing now of all times to write this article. He writes that he is “convinced that the AfD will benefit most if we do not even address the real problems that these right-wing extremists want to exploit politically out of fear and misplaced consideration.”
The AfD is the only major party calling for strong immigration restrictions policies and has made protecting women in the cities from sexual violence one of its top campaign policies. Meanwhile, his Green Party leadership has just resigned over their poor performance in the polls, in large part due to their pro-migration policies.
He points to incidents like the terror stabbing attack at the Festival of Diversity in Solingen, which he argues is a wake-up call.
“For those who are here, we must invest in integration and identification with our values,” he writes, without noting that Germany is already spending billions on integration and education programs for migrants. Despite the spending, foreigners accounted for a record share of violent crimes in 2023.
Özdemir says he is putting forward some concrete demands: “More consistency in establishing identity, more severity and sanctions for crimes, less leniency in prevention work – because every crime that fits into this pattern costs trust.”
“We must know who is in the country. We must ensure that only those who are allowed to be here are in the country. For those who are here, we must invest in integration and identification with our values. And as a host society, we must vehemently demand what is needed for this: language, work, commitment to the Basic Law.”
Some cynical commentators may believe this may be a ploy on Özdemir’s part, and the timing of this article after the Green Party hit a new record low of support since it entered the coalition government, may give credence to these claims. However, the issues he raises are real. If the establishment parties continue on their path, the AfD will only continue to cannibalize their voters. That may be why they call for a fresh ban procedure nearly every week now.
