Magdeburg: Over 120 migrant-owned businesses remain closed in protest
In Magdeburg, more than 120 business owners with a migration background kept their shops closed today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Kiosks, restaurants, barbershops, and retailers, many of them located around Hasselbachplatz, participated in the so-called "Migra-Strike." Posters explaining the action were displayed in shop windows. In the afternoon, a rally was held in front of the state parliament at Domplatz, where those affected spoke about their experiences with racism and exclusion. About ten percent of the participating businesses are run by Germans who joined in solidarity.
The action was organized by the business owners themselves, with support from the Refugee Council of Saxony-Anhalt. "Many participants report that they are increasingly afraid of hostility," said Saaeid Saaeid of the Refugee Council. Since the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market in 2024, the climate in the city has been tense. The message of the strike is that people with a migration background belong to society and are an indispensable part of it—and that no one should have to prove their belonging through work or economic performance.
The background to this is the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6 and the high poll numbers for the AfD, whose state branch is classified as "definitely right-wing extremist" by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Independently of this, economic researchers are warning of the consequences of anti-migration policies for the state. Reint Gropp, head of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Halle, estimates that economic growth in Saxony-Anhalt could fall by about half a percent to one percent per year as a result. In food production, construction, gastronomy, and logistics, the share of foreign employees there is between 33 and 40 percent, and about 20 percent of all doctors come from abroad. A study by the German Economic Institute in Cologne concludes that the number of potential workers in East Germany would fall by more than one-eighth by 2035 without immigration.
What this means for you: Anyone living or working in Magdeburg should expect that some individual shops may not reopen until the afternoon. Those who experience hostility or racist attacks themselves can contact the Refugee Council of Saxony-Anhalt or counseling centers for victims of right-wing violence in the state. Those eligible to vote on September 6 can compare the parties' election manifestos at their leisure before casting their ballots.