BERLIN: German party leaders were engaged in furious last-minute talks on Friday, delaying a high-stakes debate on an immigration bill which the conservative opposition has threatened to pass with the support of the far-right AfD.
The debate and a potential vote threatened to escalate a dispute which began Wednesday, when the conservative CDU-CSU relied on AfD votes to pass a motion calling for a crackdown on new arrivals and tight border controls.
The CDU leader and favorite to be Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sparked outrage with the maneuver, which was condemned by the other parties as a breach of a long-standing taboo or “firewall” against cooperating with far-right parties.
His move comes after a series of deadly attacks that have darkened the mood in Germany over the arrival of millions of war refugees and other asylum seekers in recent years, ahead of February 23 elections.
The debate in the Bundestag was initially slated to begin at 10:30 am (0930 GMT) before the CDU called for the sitting to be temporarily suspended for emergency talks.
The small, pro-business FDP had previously said it would request the debate to be completely postponed to allow parties other than the AfD more time to find a common solution.
Senior politicians from across the political spectrum shuttled in and out of Merz’s office in the Bundestag complex as they sought a compromise, an AFP journalist saw.
The wrangling over how to proceed with the bill had already lasted several hours on Friday without a solution.
Wednesday’s historic vote was cheered by the anti-immigration AfD but put Merz on the defensive as even his party’s former chancellor Angela Merkel broke years of silence on day-to-day politics to slam it as “wrong.”
Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz charged that Merz’s tactical maneuver was a breach of his previous promises to shun the AfD and left him “open to the accusation that he is untrustworthy.”
Scholz even raised the spectre of Merz, if he wins, one day allowing the AfD into a government — a scenario that horrifies the mainstream parties in the country still seeking to atone for the Nazi regime and the Holocaust.
While Wednesday’s motion was a non-binding call to restrict immigration, the proposal on Friday’s agenda would have the force of law, which would mark another milestone in German politics.
To protest Wednesday’s move, thousands took to the streets in multiple rallies on Thursday waving signs that read: “Shame on you,” “Friedrich Merz is a security risk for our democracy” and “We are the firewall.”
Merz has vowed to wrest the initiative back from the AfD to call for a crackdown on immigration, in an about-turn from the open-door policy of his more centrist predecessor and party rival Merkel.
The CDU and its Bavarian allies the CSU want to propose the so-called Influx Limitation Act which would restrict family reunions for rejected asylum seekers with stays of deportation.
If it becomes law, it will also boost the powers of federal police to detain undocumented migrants, whom Merz wants to place in custody and send back as soon as possible.
German MPs haggle over immigration bill backed by far right
https://arab.news/j2ner
German MPs haggle over immigration bill backed by far right
- Wednesday’s historic vote was cheered by the anti-immigration AfD
- While Wednesday’s motion was a non-binding call to restrict immigration, the proposal on Friday’s agenda would have the force of law
Fossils of ‘Java Man,’ first known Homo erectus, return to Indonesia
- Netherlands to repatriate more than 28,000 items in Dubois collection in 2026
- Fossils excavated in Indonesia were ‘removed against will of people’
JAKARTA: Prehistoric bones belonging to “Java Man” — the first known fossil evidence of Homo erectus — went on display at Indonesia’s National Museum on Thursday, more than 130 years after they were taken to the Netherlands during Dutch colonial rule.
The parts of the skeleton — a skull fragment, molar and thigh bone — were uncovered along the Bengawan Solo River on Java island in the late 19th century by Dutch anatomist and geologist Eugene Dubois.
The three items, and a related shell that was scratched by early Homo erectus, are the first in the planned repatriation of more than 28,000 fossils and natural history objects originating in Java and Sumatra that Dubois had removed.
“Repatriation is a national priority,” Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon said during an official handover ceremony in Jakarta.
“We bear the responsibility to protect cultural heritage, restore historical narratives and ensure public access to the cultural and scientific heritage that belongs to Indonesia.”
Fossils of the Java Man, which was hand-carried in a GPS-tracked, climate-controlled suitcase with a diplomatic seal, were some of the first pieces of evidence showing links between apes and humans.
The fossils are part of the larger Dubois collection that was managed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center, a 200-year-old scientific institution in Leiden.
The rest of the collection will be transferred to Indonesia in 2026, the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement, adding that Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency will take a lead role in preserving and managing the items.
“This handover marks the beginning of the next phase. We intend to repatriate thousands of items excavated in Indonesia over 130 years ago,” said Marcel Beukeboom, general director of Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
“This fossil bears witness to an important link in human evolution, while also representing part of Indonesian history and cultural heritage,” he said.
Jakarta started to campaign for the Dutch government to return stolen Indonesian artifacts after declaring independence in 1945, but the Netherlands started to return stolen items only in small numbers in the 1970s.
Recent efforts by the Indonesian Repatriation Committee have brought back home hundreds of artifacts since 2023, bringing the number to more than 2,000 items so far.
The repatriation of the Dubois collection was first announced in September, following recommendation by the Netherlands’ Colonial Collections Committee.
“The Colonial Collections Committee has concluded … that the Dutch state never owned the Dubois collection,” the Dutch government said in a news release issued at the time.
“The committee believes that the circumstances under which the fossils were obtained means it is likely they were removed against the will of the people, resulting in an act of injustice against them.
“Fossils held spiritual and economic value for local people, who were coerced into revealing fossil sites.”
The returned fossils are now a centerpiece of “Early History,” a new permanent exhibit at the National Museum in Jakarta that opened to the public on Thursday.
It explores the history of human civilization throughout Indonesia, with displays including a replica of one of the world’s oldest cave paintings from South Sulawesi and inscriptions from the 4th-century Hindu Kutai Martadipura Kingdom in East Kalimantan.
