AfD Flyers Resembling Plane Tickets for Immigrants Investigated

German police have launched an investigation after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party distributed flyers designed to look like plane tickets for deportation that were addressed to "illegal immigrants," as part of an increasingly provocative campaign before next month's general election.

- Deborah Cole

People from immigrant communities in the south-western city of Karlsruhe found the flyers in their mailboxes although it was not immediately clear if they had been directly targeted. The criminal police force in Karlsruhe said yesterday it had opened an investigation into "persons unknown on suspicion of incitement of racial hatred".

A police spokesperson said a complaint had been filed referring to a social media post about the flyer, which had an AfD logo, a QR code linking to the website of the party's local chapter and the purported destination of a "safe country of origin". Below that was the tagline: "Only remigration can still save Germany."