Immigrant shopkeepers in Germany launch strike against far right

Immigrant shopkeepers in Halle, eastern Germany, have taken to striking in protest against the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The AfD, which campaigned on promises of mass deportations, won nearly 44% of the vote in recent regional elections. The strikes, dubbed "Halle Without Us?", involved about 30 businesses, including barber shops, restaurants, and small retail stores, who pulled down their shutters and marked their businesses with red-and-white tape. The strike aimed to highlight the importance of immigrants to Halle's community.

Around 200 people gathered in the market square to voice their concerns over the increasing racism and attacks faced by immigrants and refugees since the AfD's landslide victory. Many shopkeepers expressed fear for their future, citing the presence of far-right extremists among their customers and the potential repercussions of continuing to operate.

Fadi Darwish, a 21-year-old owner of a shisha bar, acknowledged that while he might relocate if he could start anew, he hoped his neighbors would recognize the vital contributions of Arab immigrants to the community.

The AfD's regional lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, had promised to deport all foreigners residing illegally in the state, though the feasibility of this remains uncertain. The demographic shift in Saxony-Anhalt, a former East German state, has been marked by an ageing and shrinking population, with the region losing a quarter of its residents since German reunification in 1990.

Mamad Mohamad, a regional Greens Party MP, joined the protesters, emphasizing that the state is grappling with a profound demographic shift and that daily messages from people planning to leave Saxony-Anhalt are becoming increasingly common.