Proposal from Union’s Chancellor Candidate Friedrich Merz to revoke German passports of dual nationals with criminal records has sparked strong criticism from top professionals with migration backgrounds.
Merz’s suggestion “sends a clear message to many Germans with migration backgrounds: they are Germans on probation, second-class Germans” said Dr. Cihan Çelik, a pulmonologist who gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, to Capital.
“The introduction of a new category of citizenship contradicts the German Constitution and particularly targets those who are well-integrated and naturalized” Çelik added. “This message isolates and reinforces the already existing feeling that one does not truly belong, no matter how hard one tries.”
Düzen Tekkal, a journalist and founder of the human rights organization Háwar.help, also condemned the proposal: “Merz’s reform would indeed turn the German citizenship into a white privilege, a right before non-white and non-migrant people. That is racist.”
Fatima Hussain, Head of Legal at the investment company Liqid, stated: “This division fosters mistrust, prejudices, and stereotypes, and endangers social cohesion. In a polarized society, we risk losing common values and goals.”
Darya van de Sandt-Nassehi, Managing Director at the consulting firm TMG Consultants, called for: “There should be no citizenship on trial.” The hurdle to obtain citizenship should be significantly raised, instead. “That’s why my advice is to be cautious rather than distributing passports on trial.