Immigration authorities in Berlin are attempting to deport four pro-Palestine protesters without any criminal convictions, according to a report by US-based news site The Intercept.

Berlin threatens international pro-Palestine protesters with deportation

Four international residents in Berlin, who are citizens of the United States, Poland and Ireland, have been ordered by the city’s immigration office to leave Germany by April 21, 2025, or face deportation.

Differing allegations have been made against the four individuals, but each pertains to their taking part in demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza. According to The Intercept, “some, but not all of the allegations would correspond to criminal charges in Germany; almost none of them have been brought to criminal court.”

Allegations include chanting slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” - which Germany banned in 2024 - , “Free Palestine”,  “antisemitic slogans” unspecified by authorities and holding police officers’ or fellow protestors’ arms to stop arrests at an occupation at a train station.

Only one of the allegations listed in the deportation order included a charge. This relates to one of the Irish citizens, who was accused of calling a police officer a “fascist”, but was acquitted in a Berlin criminal court. The residents are also accused of supporting Hamas, though no evidence of their alleged support has been given. Germany officially considers Hamas a terrorist organisation. 

“These people’s criminal records are clean,” Alexander Gorski, a lawyer representing two members of the group, told the news site. The residents have now filed a motion for interim relief and formally challenged the deportation order.

Protestors are being used as guinea pigs, warns lawyer

“What we’re seeing are the harshest possible measures available, based on accusations that are extremely vague and in part completely unfounded,” Gorski explained, adding that the tactics were “straight out of the far right’s playbook”.

The Berlin lawyer drew a comparison to the treatment of US-based Palestinian and anti-war activist Mahmoud Khalil, a leading figure in the pro-Palestine occupation at Columbia University in 2024. Khalil was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and threatened with deportation despite holding permanent residence in the US.

Both cases are causing concern about curtailed freedom of expression and other civil liberties. “They are being used as guinea pigs,” Gorski told The Intercept, referring to the Berlin case.

In its 2025 World Report, Human Rights Watch cited “excessive force against pro-Palestine protesters” and police denying “specific persons entry to Germany to speak at pro-Palestine events” as worrying instances of the country “stifling civic space in 2024”. 

2024 saw Germany adopt its “antisemitism resolution”, which deems organisations considered antisemitic ineligible for public funding. The resolution uses the working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) as its benchmark, which critics argue limits freedom of expression to criticise the state of Israel and endangers Jewish life in Germany.

Germany’s Christian Democratic / Christian Social Union (CDU / CSU) and Social Democratic (SPD) incoming coalition plans further, related legal changes. The coalition is currently considering a new law which could strip dual citizens of their German passport if they are found to be “terror supporters, antisemites and extremists". The law may also use the IHRA definition as its benchmark, but it is still under constitutional review.

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