Saxony-Anhalt: Allowed to leave if it becomes dangerous

In around a month, the AfD politician Siegmund wants to be elected prime minister in Saxony-Anhalt. Many migrants are considering moving away. But what applies to asylum seekers when it comes to housing?

Saxony-Anhalt Are allowed to leave if it becomes dangerous As of: November 15, 2026 • 12:10 p.m

Mika Kaiyama doesn't want to talk about how she's feeling. It takes too much strength. “And we need this strength to master the current situation.”

Kaiyama, a former opera singer from Tokyo, came to Saxony-Anhalt 28 years ago. Today she works at LAMSA, the state network of migrant organizations in Saxony-Anhalt.

There is great uncertainty among the approximately 192,000 foreigners in Saxony-Anhalt after the AfD's election success in September, she says.

In its election manifesto, the AfD announced cuts in benefits for migrants, work requirements for asylum seekers, special classes for children of refugees, a task force for deportations, more detention pending deportation, the breaking of church asylum and the confiscation of assets upon entry. From mid-December, the party, which the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as definitely right-wing extremist, could lead government business in Magdeburg.

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The LAMSA advice center received many inquiries even before the election, reports Kaiyama: "When do I have to pack my suitcase? Will my German passport be taken away? These are real fears of families who live here." Since the election on September 6th, there has been an average of one new request every day.

Considerations among migrants about moving from Saxony-Anhalt have been well researched: in a survey commissioned by the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Labor in 2025, one in four people said they wanted to leave Saxony-Anhalt (26.4 percent), and the same number were undecided. 67 percent cited specific experiences of discrimination and racism as a main reason. “We fear: Those who can will move away quickly,” says Kaiyama. But not everyone can.

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Asylum seekers and tolerated persons are often subject to a residence requirement in Germany if they cannot secure their own livelihood. Recognized persons entitled to protection are also subject to a residence regulation: They must live for three years in the federal state to which they were assigned during the asylum procedure. Excluded from this are, for example, students, trainees or working people.

The regulations are intended to prevent newcomers from gathering in a few metropolitan areas. But what happens if foreigners are not safe in an assigned place of residence?

The Residence Act only provides limited answers to this: the immigration authorities can relax the residency requirement in cases of hardship due to “unreasonable restrictions”. It is not expressly regulated whether this also includes the threat of racism or right-wing extremism.

Together with other migrant associations, LAMSA is therefore proposing an expansion of the relevant paragraph in the Residence Act. Kaiyama believes that the “threat posed by right-wing extremist political structures and a demonstrable increase in racist violence” must be considered a hardship case. "People should not be forced to live in a federal state or in a municipality where they are threatened with racist violence."

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The lawyers Lukas Bornschein and Niklas Cuno from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg believe such a change in the law is “legally conceivable”. The residence law is constantly being adjusted.

A second central demand from the migrant associations: state reception programs between Saxony-Anhalt and another federal state.

According to Bornschein and Cuno, an internal federal reception program is "in principle possible" under current law, at least for asylum seekers in ongoing proceedings and for tolerated people. However, refugees who have already been recognized would not be able to benefit from a possible admission program. The three-year residency regulation is “regulated relatively conclusively” in the law.

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State admission programs between federal states would not be completely new. Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, agreed on a state reception program until 2019, but the accommodation was limited. “A comprehensive redistribution program like LAMSA is now thinking of has not yet existed,” says Cuno.

The prerequisite for such a program is the political will of Saxony-Anhalt and a host country to conclude a corresponding agreement. “In Saxony-Anhalt the timeframe for implementing this with the current government is getting tighter,” says Cuno.

A Saxony-Anhalt government spokeswoman simply told the ARD capital studio: "The state's obligation to ensure the safety of all people and the residency requirement" are "not in contradiction to each other."

The ARD capital studio also followed up with the 15 other state chancelleries, and eleven responded to the request. None of these held out the prospect of an admissions program.

The federal government's refugee commissioner, Natalie Pawlik (SPD), only sees moving away as an option in individual cases: "It cannot be a solution that those affected have to leave their places of residence because they are not safe there." The state must ensure exactly that.

Pawlik announces that he will work to bring the issue to the table at the next Prime Minister's or Interior Minister's Conference. The country heads will meet again on December 10th.