Four activists – two Irish citizens, one Polish citizen and one US citizen – have been ordered to leave Germany by April 21, 2025 with one reason: protesting Germany’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine. Berlin’s Interior Ministry has issued deportation orders based on accusations of “antisemitism” and support for “terrorist organisations” – claims entirely without evidence or legal basis. None of the four have a criminal record.
Even Berlin’s immigration office (LEA) initially rejected the orders, recognising they lacked legal grounds, but was pressured into compliance by the Interior Ministry, as evidenced by email threads obtained by the activists’ legal defence team. The deportation orders were ultimately signed by LEA Director Engelhard Mazanke.
This unprecedented move is part of a frightening broader crackdown. Since October 2023, Germany has frozen asylum claims from Gaza, despite German courts acknowledging that life in Gaza is under direct threat. At the same time, racist media coverage manufactures consent for deportations targeting Palestinians and other racialised communities.
From mass arrests and bogus charges to the use of migration law to bypass the courts, Germany is ramping up its efforts to silence pro-Palestinian voices. Now, it has escalated by revoking one student visa and three EU citizens’ right to freedom of movement. This mirrors tactics used by the Trump administration, but similar repression now threatens activists in Greece too – the normalisation of the disregard for fundamental rights is an existential threat to the EU as a whole.
These deportations are a political attack on an entire movement. By removing these activists, Germany is targeting the broader community – especially Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims – who dare to speak out.
The deportation letters cite Germany’s Staatsräson, a doctrine that demands unconditional support for Israel. That doctrine is now being used to justify repression, whitewash war crimes, and silence criticism of a 77-year campaign of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and the current mass slaughter, displacement, and starvation of Palestinians.
The Irish Bloc stands in full solidarity with the four facing deportation. We reject this misuse of the law, denounce Germany’s complicity in genocide, support all asylum seekers and victims of Germany’s racist immigration policy who have had their residencies revoked for activism and advocacy, and support the fight to overturn these orders in the courts.
From Gaza to Berlin, the struggle continues. No deportation can stop this movement.
🇮🇪Saoirse don Phalaistín🇵🇸
- @IrishBlocBerlin
Share the statement on Instagram
