There is a worrying resurgence of xenophobia in Germany. Eight Indians were attacked last week by a mob of neo-Nazi youth on the streets of Muegeln, a small town in the eastern German state of Saxony. In a separate incident the same night, two Africans were attacked in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Racist slurs and swastikas — the symbol of the Nazi party — were also found painted on the doors of apartment blocks where asylum seekers were staying. Right-wing thugs have declared some neighbourhoods as “no go areas” for foreigners. Attacks on foreigners are not uncommon in Germany, especially in the eastern states where far-right, neo-Nazi political parties are growing in strength. The neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) won over nine per cent of the vote in the 2004 assembly elections in Saxony and holds several seats in the state assembly. It has 6,000 members and their numbers are growing. The party has exploited the high level of unemployment in Germany and channelled social discontent into racism.
The NDP has not been specifically blamed for last week’s attacks on foreigners. But the party has encouraged hatred of foreigners and provides the ideological fuel for the kind of racist violence that was unleashed last week in Germany. Several political parties have called on the government to impose a ban on the party. There was an attempt to ban the NPD in 2003 but it failed to come through as the Federal Constitutional Court refused to hear the case.
Even if the government were to successfully outlaw the NDP this time around, banning this party will not stop xenophobic violence in Germany. Over a dozen neo-Nazi groups have been banned in the past decade. Members of these groups simply joined new extremist outfits. The NPD’s growth can in fact be traced to the ban on other rightwing outfits. Similarly, a ban on NPD will only result in its members finding new havens. A ban on the NPD will allow its members to claim victim status. The German Criminal Code has enough teeth to prosecute illegal acts of violence on people. Acting against these thugs under existing laws will be more effective than banning the NPD. More importantly, the government must address rampant unemployment.