AfD's Alice Weidel on Refugees: "They Have To Leave Our Country," "We Don't Want A Caliphate"
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/10/17/afds_alice_weidel_on_refugees_they_have_to_leave_our_country_we_dont_want_a_caliphate.html

Alice Weidel, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag, is interviewed by Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist's editor-in-chief, and discusses the AfD's immigration policy on asylum law.

ZANNY MINTON BEDDOES, 'THE ECONOMIST' EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: I think many people of foreign background are very frightened by the AFD in this country. So it would be helpful, I think, for you to be very clear on this. People who are here legally, whether they are Syrian or Afghani or whatever, they can and are welcome; they can stay here, and they are welcome.

ALICE WEIDEL, ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY (AFD): Well, to be honest, our law states, our asylum law states that in the case that the reason for coming to our country, like especially for the Syrians, let's stay at that example because you mentioned that, that the reason is gone, right? For being here, because they are refugees, asylum seekers, they need shelter, here they get tons of money from the state, but it doesn't matter right now. They have to go back to their country.

They have to leave our country. The law enforcement is very clear in Germany. 100% of the Syrians, because the war ended in Syria, 100% of the Syrian citizens have to go back to their country, as well as the Afghans, which our government decided to actually fly into our country.

I don't know how you would possibly come to this obnoxious policy to fly in Afghans out of Afghanistan, because our crime rate has been skyrocketing since 2015, since the border opening. And the main group of the worst crimes, like raping, like killing people, Rohheitsdelikte (act of brutality), it's called Rohheitsdelikte. So the main category are Syrians and Afghans.

So we need to send these people back and we need to detain criminals and also religious extremist leaders. We don't want a caliphate in our country... I haven't mentioned the Ukrainians. Also, the Ukrainians have to leave our country when this war will be ended. And this is a sum of millions of people, because it's up to four to five million, four roughly, and they have to leave our country.