Criticism of asylum policy
District administrator in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania resigns from the SPD
November 6th, 2023, 9:13 p.m
After several decades with the Social Democrats, Western Pomerania-Rügen’s district administrator Stefan Kerth is leaving the party. In a long explanation he explains his motives. His decision was received favorably in right-wing political camps.
After more than 20 years, the district administrator of Vorpommern-Rügen, Stefan Kerth, has announced his departure from the SPD. In a statement, he particularly referred to the current asylum and migration policy as a reason. But he wants to remain district administrator. A spokeswoman for the district office said that joining another party was “not up for debate.” In social networks, the exit is partly celebrated in camps close to the AfD or even further to the right.
Kerth, who has been district administrator of the northeasternmost district of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 2018, wrote: “For a long time I have perceived the politics of the SPD and the left-of-center political camp as being too strongly driven by opinion and insufficiently oriented towards the reality of life.” He criticized the planned reform of nationality law. “Low requirements for achieved integration and earned income do not indicate any learning effect.” It is to be feared that new false incentives will be created. “A real change of course would look different.”
The cabinet approved a new nationality law at the end of August. The law is intended to enable significantly faster naturalization and multiple nationality. “The economy absolutely needs skilled workers and workers,” said SPD Minister Nancy Faeser. “Modern citizenship law is also a crucial key to the competitiveness of Germany as a business location.” According to the draft, foreign citizens who live in Germany should be able to apply for naturalization after five years instead of the current eight years. Those who are particularly well integrated can be naturalized after just three years, said Faeser. “This applies to people who speak German very well, achieve outstanding performance at work or do voluntary work.”
Disputable statements in statement
In a letter to the SPD regional association, Kerth criticized tolerance for what he said was widespread intolerance in migrant environments. “Even when it comes to the heartfelt issue of equal rights for women, people are willing to look the other way.” There is also talk of a “declining ability of the rule of law to enforce itself”. “Without a clear state monopoly on violence, parallel societies develop their own monopolies on violence,” warned Kerth. In the left-wing political spectrum, the police are subliminally seen as opponents and not as a supporter of the rule of law. “Such positions are also socially acceptable in the SPD.”
The district administrator, whose district of Vorpommern-Rügen benefits from tourism but is one of the poorer regions of Germany with a high unemployment rate, described the citizen’s money as well-intentioned in terms of political sentiment. “It’s not socially fair.” Many people are withdrawing from the labor market. Increasing social benefits would be distributed among fewer and fewer shoulders. “In times when every helping hand is needed, we promote the utopia of an effortless life.”
In fact, there are companies that report employee dismissals based on citizens’ benefits, such as cleaning staff. However, model calculations show that they often have significantly less money available. A statement by Jens Spahn before the increase that a family of four with citizen’s money actually has as much at their disposal as an average-earning family also turned out to be wrong. However, there are calculations that show that single-earner families with two small children who earn the minimum wage only have a little more money available than a comparable family on citizen’s benefit. This is one of the reasons why critics say that the minimum wage is too low – and not that the citizen’s allowance is too high.
“I find it difficult to leave”
Kerth has repeatedly expressed criticism of migration policy in the past. Only at the end of September did he publish a six-page statement entitled “Refugee crisis requires more consistency and honesty!”. In it he accused the federal government of not doing everything it could to curb the influx. “The mood in the middle of society is more fragile than ever.” He sees dishonesty and taboos in the debate about pension benefits as possible motivation to flee.
“After many years of membership, it is difficult for me to leave,” Kerth wrote to the regional association. The general secretary of the MV-SPD, Julian Barlen, said: “We regret Stefan Kerth’s decision and will continue to do everything we can to ensure good development in Western Pomerania-Rügen and throughout the country.”