Indian expats in Germany unnerved by far-right AfD's electoral gains

Key facts

• Indian migrants in Germany are growing uneasy over the AfD's electoral gains.
• The AfD, founded in 2013, opposes immigration, Islam, and the EU, and has been classified as extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
• Many Indian migrants, often from Hindu and dominant caste backgrounds, initially felt the AfD's anti-immigrant stance did not apply to them.
• Experts warn that the AfD's ideology is based on ethnic and cultural German identity, not solely on religion.
• The AfD's intellectual roots trace back to interwar European race science, which historically ranked Indians as racially inferior.
• Indians are Germany's seventh-largest immigrant community, largely drawn by skilled-worker and student visas.

Indians living in Germany are increasingly concerned by the substantial gains of the far-right, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in recent state elections. The AfD secured 44.5% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, its strongest performance to date, and is becoming a dominant force in eastern Germany with aspirations for national power.

While many Indian migrants, particularly those from Hindu and dominant caste backgrounds, initially felt insulated from the AfD's anti-immigrant rhetoric, viewing it as primarily targeting Muslims, experts caution against this narrow interpretation. The party's platform is built on a vision of Germany as ethnically and culturally German, with a broader opposition to diversity that has historical roots in 1930s European race science. This ideology, experts warn, could eventually encompass non-Muslim minority groups, including Indians, who were historically considered racially inferior.

Indians constitute the seventh-largest immigrant community in Germany, with many arriving on skilled-worker and student visas to fill labor shortages in sectors like technology and engineering. The political landscape is shifting, with the traditional reluctance of mainstream parties to engage with the AfD beginning to erode, making its rise to power a more tangible possibility.