After Naumburg: Stop school deportations now!

Ein kleines Kind mit rotem Basecap (mit Spinnennetzmuster) und blauem Pullover sitzt an einem Tisch in einem Klassenzimmer und schreibt auf ein Blatt Papier. Der Hintergrund ist unscharf, aber farbenfroh gestaltet mit orangefarbener Wand und bunten Möbeln.

Following the failed attempt to deport a Syrian family in Naumburg, in which a ten-year-old was taken out of class in tears, the state chairwoman of Alliance 90/The Greens Saxony-Anhalt, Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz, has sharply criticized the asylum policy of the CDU/CSU and SPD:

“If a state demonstrates its power by taking children out of class, then something is fundamentally wrong. Having children taken away by officials in school gyms is cruel and inhumane.”

Sziborra-Seidlitz refers to current recommendations by the German Federation of Education Workers (GEW) and pedagogical associations, which classify school deportations as a measure of last resort in strict compliance with proportionality. The procedure chosen in Naumburg obviously contradicts this principle.

Sziborra-Seidlitz blames the CDU/CSU and SPD in the federal government as well as state Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU) for the political climate in which such deportations become possible: “When the CDU publicly calls for more deportations and the SPD goes along, human dignity and child welfare become a minor matter. Ms. Zieschang is responsible in Saxony-Anhalt for ensuring that such scenes do not become the norm.”

The Green politician demands:

  • an immediate end to deportations from schools and daycare centers,
  • an investigation of the case by the state administration office,
  • and an asylum policy that does not sacrifice humanity for populism.

“We need protection instead of show politics – and a state that protects children instead of having them taken away in class.”