AfD proposes banning foreign doctors in Saxony‑Anhalt, sparking health‑sector alarm
The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election program for the Saxony‑Anhalt state parliament calls for replacing foreign physicians with additional German medical students, using the slogan “Medizinstudenten statt Importärzte.”
Medical associations warn that roughly 2,000 doctors with migration backgrounds – about 18.5 % of the physician workforce in Saxony‑Anhalt – are already essential, especially in rural areas, and that health care would collapse in many locations without them. Federal statistics show that one in eight doctors in Germany lacks German citizenship and that 42 % of immigrant doctors have lived in the country for less than ten years.
FDP state minister Lydia Hüskens criticised the AfD plan as unrealistic, noting that training enough German doctors would take about 30 years even if the number of medical students were increased by 20 % annually. AfD Spitzenkandidat Ulrich Siegmund clarified that the party opposes illegal migrants but does not seek to deport all people with a migration background, advocating a “normal” immigration law for others.
Entities: Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) · German medical system · Lydia Hüskens · Saxony‑Anhalt · Ulrich Siegmund
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 4 SOURCES] FDP state minister Lydia Hüskens says the AfD plan to increase medical student numbers by 20 % annually is unrealistic and would take about 30 years to meet needs. (Lydia Hüskens, FDP Landesministerin (Instagram video))
- [● 4 SOURCES] One in eight doctors in Germany does not have German citizenship. (Statistisches Bundesamt 2024)
- [● 4 SOURCES] AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund states the party opposes illegal migrants but not all people with migration background, supporting a normal immigration law for others. (Ulrich Siegmund, AfD Spitzenkandidat (Instagram video))
- [● 4 SOURCES] AfD’s Saxony‑Anhalt election program includes the slogan “Medizinstudenten statt Importärzte”. (AfD election program)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Approximately 2,000 foreign doctors work in Saxony‑Anhalt, representing 18.55 % of physicians there. (Saxony‑Anhalt medical chambers)
- [● 4 SOURCES] 42 % of immigrant doctors in Germany have lived in the country for less than ten years. (Statistisches Bundesamt 2024)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Medical experts warn that without foreign doctors, health care would collapse in many parts of Saxony‑Anhalt. (Doctors’ representatives and health experts)
- [● 4 SOURCES] AfD proposes to stop employing foreign doctors in German hospitals as a solution to the medical staffing shortage. (AfD Saxony‑Anhalt election platform)