Germanys Refugee Crisis and Populist Movements

Rise of Populist Movements and Large Numbers of Refugees in Germany

Germany has witnessed a significant increase in the number of asylum seekers migrating into the country in the recent past. As of 2016, the number of refugees seeking asylum in Germany was more than 700,000, which represented a huge increase from the less than 100,000 refugees who asylum in the country in 2006. The huge numbers of refugees seeking asylum in Germany has come at a time when Europe is facing a refugee crisis. According to Postelnicescu (2016), Europe is currently facing a refugee crisis that has generated concerns on whether it should maintain its core democratic values and freedoms or maintain freedom and justice. The increase in the number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe including Germany is attributable to the prevalence of terrorism, which is a global security concern. Moreover, this increase is attributable to the current security situation in the Middle East. For Germany, the arrival of large number of refugees has seemingly sparked the rise of populist movements. This paper seeks to examine this causality and provide alternative causal explanations for this issue.
The Rise of Populist Movements in Germany
Germany has experienced a significant increase in populist movements across the country, particularly the New Right movement. The rise of these populist movements is partly because Germans have been experiencing a sense of disillusionment on the right for the past few years. As a result, many Germans from the center of the society are identifying themselves with the New Right populist movement. This trend has occurred at a time when the refugee crisis facing Europe, particularly Germany, has exacerbated Germans’ frustration and at a time when political debate toughens and violence increases (Amann et al., 2015). The rise of the New Right in Germany is characterized by a public mood in which many people are united against the state, elected officials, and government institutions.
The rise of populist movements has been characterized with the emergence of several populist groups like Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the neo-Nazi NPD. Public mood against the state, its officials, and institutions was recently evident in the decision by representatives of these two populist groups to vote against the refugees in the regional council. Given the emergence of these populist movements, Germany is gradually developing antipathy towards democracy while xenophobia is reported to be growing rapidly (Amann et al., 2015). For instance, there have been numerous cases of right-wing violence that are targeted towards refugees as refugee hostels are burned nearly everyday. While such acts are currently carried out by a radical minority, populist movements are becoming more attractive to many Germans unlike in the previous decades.
Causality Between Populist Movements and the Refugee Crisis in Germany
While populist movements continue to rise throughout Germany, the country has also witnessed a significant rise in the number of refugees seeking asylum. The large numbers of refugees seeking asylum in Germany is attributable to the open gate approach adopted by Angela Merkel (Postelnicescu, 2016). Merkel has maintained a relatively open refugee policy, which has contributed to a huge increase in the number of refugees in Germany. It is estimated that more than a million refugees arrived in Germany in 2015 while 745,545 asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2016. Given its relatively open refugee policy, Germany has remained an attractive option for asylum seekers. As a result, millions of people fleeing conflicts and war from various parts of the world are seeking asylum in Europe, particularly Germany because of its open gate approach in handling refugees. Actually, the German Chancellor adopted an open gate refugee policy while other European countries refused, which has significantly increased the numbers of asylum seekers in the country.
Since populist movements have risen at a time when the number of refugees have also increased in Germany, it is quite clear that these two trends are interrelated. Fischer (2016) states that Merkel’s approach to the refugee situation and crisis has resulted in the rise of a right-wing protest party. This implies that causality can be established between the rise of populist movements and the arrival of huge number of refugees in Germany. Causality can be established on the premise that the increase in the numbers of refugees has unsettled the German society that it has been for a long time (Amann et al., 2015). The influx of refugees seems to have unsettled the German society and provided an avenue for Germans to be increasingly identified with populist movements, organizations, and groups.
Populist movements have risen because of fears and concerns that refugees would harm the German society. For instance, a recent survey by TNS Forschung found that a significant percentage of the German population believes that the influx of refugees will have long-lasting impacts and changes on the German society (Amann et al., 2015). Recent reports indicate that Germans fear that the refugees would contribute to increased crime rates, increased risk of terrorism, and increase in unemployment. As the open gate refugee policy continues to worsen, populist movements are likely to continue becoming prominent.
Therefore, the rise of populist movements in Germany is a reflection of the deep unease in the society. These movements arise because of efforts by Germans to protest against the open gate refugee policy and to force the government to bring the refugee crisis under control. While Germans may not necessarily share the beliefs and values of these populist movements, they increasingly become vulnerable to identify themselves with it because of the persistent refugee crisis. This essentially means that populist movements have emerged as means through which Germans express their dissatisfaction with current refugee policy adopted by the government.
Alternative Causal Explanations
The causal explanation for the link between the rise of populist movements and the arrival of large number of refugees in German is that these movements emerged as a means by Germans to protest against the influx of refugees. However, there is an alternative causal explanation for this link between these two issues. This alternative causal explanation is that prominent right-wing populist party, AfD, is using the refugee crisis to destabilize the German political scene. In this case, the main link between the influx of refugees and the rise of populist movements in Germany is attempts by AfD to take advantage of the situation to shake up the political scene in Germany (Leonard, 2016).
This alternative causal explanation seemingly suggests that the only direct link between these two trends is politics. On one hand, the open gate refugee policy and approach adopted by Merkel has acted as a catalyst for the influx of refugees in Germany. On the other hand, right-wing populist party, AfD, is taking advantage of this crisis to promote its agenda. In essence, this political party is capitalizing on Germans dissatisfaction with governmental policy and concerns regarding security and unemployment to promote its agenda. By taking advantage of the situation, AfD has seemingly influenced the emergence of other populist movements, particularly radical groups that are using violence against refugees. Additionally, many Germans including those at the center of the society are finding the ideologies of this party attractive simply because its taking advantage of the refugee crisis to advance its objectives and goals.
The increased prominence of AfD following the refugee crisis is centered and focused on the fight against Merkel’s supremacy. Through this process, this party has become more influential and attracted more Germans. Due to its increasing influence, the right-wing populist party is slowly shaking up the country’s political scene. For example, following AfD’s entrance into Bundestag, the major political parties in the region suffered their worst-ever results. While these major parties experienced their worst-ever performance, AfD performed remarkably in comparison to recent decades. AfD has seemingly shaped people’s opinions regarding immigration policy, which has provided a premise with which its linked to the refugee crisis and the rise of populist movements in Germany.
According to Leonard (2016), Merkel’s handling of the current refugee crisis in Germany has strengthened the far right, particularly the right-wing movement. Consequently, politics and the battle for supremacy has taken center stage in the influx of refugees and rise of populist movements in the country. The adoption of the open-door refugee policy in 2015 by Angela Merkel provided AfD a second chance through which it has transformed itself into a populist and influential party. The party has taken advantage of the situation to shape public opinion on this issue and contribute towards the rise of populist movements. The influence of AfD in the rise of populist movements in Germany is attributable to the fact that its standing up for people who feel disenfranchised in the country, particularly because of the refugee crisis.
In conclusion, the refugee crisis has emerged as one of the major challenges in Europe, especially Germany, which has experienced large numbers of refugees migrating to the country. Germany has witnessed the highest number of refugees seeking asylum in the country in the past two years since 1990. Additionally, the country is facing challenges relating to the rise of populist movements. Causality can be established between the rise of populist movements and large numbers of refugees in Germany on the premise that the refugee crisis has contributed to dissatisfaction and security concerns, which has led to protests and rise of populist movements. The alternative causal explanation for the situation is that the right-wing populist party, AfD, is taking advantage of the refugee crisis to advance its ideologies and create populist movements.
References
Amann et al. (2015, December 11). The Rise of Germany’s New Right. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-crisis-drives-rise-of-new-right-wing-in-germany-a-1067384.html
Fischer, S. (2016, September 5). The Rise of the Populists – A Problem for Merkel and Germany. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/rise-of-populist-afd-a-problem-for-merkel-and-germany-a-1110954.html
Leonard, M. (2016, March 5). The Germany Crisis: Angela Merkel, Refugees and the Rise of the Right. New Statesman. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/03/germany-crisis-angela-merkel-refugees-and-rise-right
Postelnicescu, C. (2016, May). Europe’s New Identity: The Refugee Crisis and the Rise of Nationalism. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 203-209.