Austrian far-right activist Sellner opens “Institute for Remigration” in Germany

Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner has set up an “Institute for Remigration” in Germany. The Greens and die Linke are calling on the CDU/CSU-SPD government to ban the institute.

Sellner opens “remigration” institute

Martin Sellner, head of the right-wing extremist Identitären Bewegung (Identitarian Movement or IB), has established a so-called “Institute for Remigration” in Germany. The institute's self-declared goal is to “maximise remigration”, including the “remigration” of “non-assimilated" German citizens.

The term “remigration” has become widely publicly used by European far-right parties since a secret meeting in Potsdam in 2023, where Sellner met with far-right activists and politicians, including CDU members and current AfD MPs, doctors, journalists and entrepreneurs.

The meeting, which was investigated and exposed by German outlet CORRECTIV, took place close to the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz, where senior Nazis met in 1942 to plan how the so-called “Final Solution” would be carried out.

According to CORRECTIV’s reporting, the group discussed “remigrating”, i.e. deporting, certain groups in Germany, e.g. asylum seekers, foreigners with a residence permit and “non-assimilated” German citizens. 

Now, Sellner has also announced the publication of a “100-day manifesto” which can be used by an AfD-led government in Saxony-Anhalt. In early September, the far-right party won the state election with 43,8 percent of the vote, and this week successfully elected far-right former real estate agent Tobias Rausch as president of the eastern federal state. 

Following the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt, leader Ulrich Siegmund, who also allegedly attended the Potsdam meeting, hopes to soon be elected leader of the state parliament. The parliamentary vote to elect a state premier is held by secret ballot and can include up to three voting rounds.

Greens and Left call for “remigration institute” ban

According to CORRECTIV, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig found Sellner’s Identitarian Movement unconstitutional in June 2025, due to it being “contrary to human dignity”. The Administrative Court in Bavaria corroborated the judgment in June 2026.

Article 1 of the German constitution outlines that “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority” and that “the German people [...] acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world."

Speaking to CORRECTIV, Bundestag members from the Greens and die Linke called on the federal government to ban the IB-affiliated “Institute for Remigration” on the basis of the Leipzig and Bavaria verdicts.

Marcel Emmerich, spokesperson for the Green Party parliamentary group, told the outlet there was “sufficient evidence that Sellner’s inhumane remigration policy undermines the very foundations of our democracy”.

Emmerich added that a ban on the institute would be an “important tool of a resilient democracy” but that it would have to be properly prepared by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Clara Bünger (die Linke) told CORRECTIV that a ban should be “a matter of course” and that Sellner’s unconstitutional “mass deportation plans” were a defining feature of the “so-called Remigration Institute” and the IB.

Sebastian Fiedler (SPD) underlined Emmerich’s point that the relevant authorities would have to plan such a ban thoroughly and meticulously. CORRECTIV approached the CDU/CSU for comment but received no response.