Conservative German politician’s racist ‘Germany 2030’ prediction triggers public outrage

As Europe bickers over border controls, migration policies and the refugee crisis, a conservative German politician has become the latest figure to make the headlines with a "disgusting, racist, xenophobic" social media post.



The human rights spokesperson for Angela Merkel's CDU party, Erika Steinbach has received intense criticism for her predictions on 'Germany in 2030' as she posted a photo of her controversial prediction on Twitter Saturday.

The photo shows a blond child surrounded by South Asian women with the caption "Germany 2030" atop and the question "Where are you from then?" beneath the image as if the women were asking the small child.

The MP triggered public outrage and even faced harsh criticism from within her own party.



Her fellow conservative, Secretary-General of CDU Peter Tauber tweeted that he would "not respond to [her] tweet, as I don't want to use more derogatory language."



Leftist SDU chairman Ralf Stegner said in his tweet: If parliament had an upper limit of stupidity, Mrs Steinbach would be rejected at the border at the Reichstag.



"You have - once again -crossed the fine line from right-wing populism to racism. I am sorry for you!" said leading SDP politician Ulrich Kelber.
Germany's Green Party and the socialist Die Linke Party also demanded that Steinbach be forced to resign from her position of CDU human rights spokesperson due to her racist remarks

However, despite all the criticism Steinbach still refused to back down from her stance. She answered with phrases like "I also reject racism!" and reminding that "[her] grandfather was also in a concentration camp."

Anti-immigration ideology and xenophobia have become more visible in the country as a result of the efforts of political parties like the NPD and Alternative for Germany (AFD), as well as anti-Islam and anti-refugee initiatives like Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), which have staged anti-refugee rallies and drawn thousands of people throughout Europe and especially in Germany.

The government, on the other hand, is criticized for lacking a coherent strategy to address refugees, failing to move quickly and decisively enough to prevent the violence and indirectly encouraging attacks through inaction.

The influx of refugees into Europe has led to calls from across the political spectrum for a change in Germany's and the European Union's handling of the number of refugees escaping war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Growing concern about Germany's ability to cope with the influx and worries about crime and security after assaults on women on New Year's Eve in Cologne are weighing on support for the CDU and the CSU.

Merkel, despite appearing increasingly isolated over her open-door policy on refugees, has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx or to close Germany's borders. Instead, she has tried to convince other European countries to take in quotas of refugees and pushed for reception centers to be built on Europe's external borders. She has also tried to speed-up the deportation of those whose asylum applications are rejected.