He doesn’t want school or leisure sports “to bleed for this asylum policy.” With statements like these, CDU politician Udo Witscha triggers outrage. With his Christmas speech, the district administrator of Bautzen also alienated his party colleagues.
A Christmas message from the Bautzen District Administrator Udo Witschas on the accommodation of refugees caused criticism. In a video published on Facebook on Tuesday evening, the CDU politician said, among other things, that refugees in the district should not be housed in gyms or in decentralized accommodation. “It is not our intention to let sport, whether school or leisure, bleed for this asylum policy,” said Witschas in the video.
In addition, the district office does not want to “accommodate people who come to us, who do not know our culture, who do not know our regulations, here in apartment buildings and vacant apartments and to accept the threat to social peace”. The district office does not want to go down these paths, the CDU district administrator emphasized in his Christmas message. In the past few days he has received numerous inquiries from Hoyerswerda, for example, where there have recently been talks about central refugee accommodation. However, the district council rejected this.
Criticism of Witscha’s message came from Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, among others: A CDU member explains to the citizens why people seeking protection are not allowed to enter an empty apartment and then wishes them a “merry Christmas”. “He didn’t understand the Christmas story! Really not!” Tweeted the left-wing politician. His party colleague Caren Lay described it as unbelievable how the district administrator fueled the fear of asylum seekers instead of taking an offensive stance against the shift to the right.
Saxony’s Economics Minister Martin Dulig spoke of an “enormous process”. CDU leader Friedrich Merz said that he distanced himself from all right-wing extremist activities. “I expect the same here in Saxony,” emphasized the SPD politician. He also pointed out that the state government was working on a package of measures to make Saxony attractive for immigration. “Hate speech disguised as a Christmas speech is the opposite of what we need.”
CDU Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow essentially agrees with Dulig. One wants to create a climate that makes it attractive for people from other countries – all activities that counteract this are detrimental, according to Gemkow. The CDU member of parliament, Dennis Radtke, tweeted that as a CDU member he was ashamed of Witscha’s statements.
The Bautzen CDU had already come under criticism last week after the majority of the Christian Democrats in the Bautzen district council approved a motion by the AfD on refugee policy. The decision concerned the revision of guidelines for the integration of refugees. According to this, foreign nationals should no longer receive integration benefits if they are obliged to leave the country. Exceptions to this should apply to people with a clarified identity and to those who have made intensive efforts to integrate, it said.
