Foreign students in Cottbus are choosing to live in protected communities. They fear they would be targeted if there are attacks ahead of Brandenburg’s state parliament elections.
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00:00Abhirami Vinodmanju is from India.
00:05She was happy when she received her place at the University of Technology in Cottbus.
00:10Its GDR predecessor already had a good reputation, and these days more international students
00:15apply to study here than the university can accommodate.
00:20Cottbus was the only university in Germany offering Masters in Artificial Intelligence
00:25and that too an English-oriented course.
00:28So I decided to come to Cottbus, Germany, and the university is offering a diverse and
00:33vigorous study programme.
00:38Ehsan Hayat was born in Pakistan.
00:41Almost half of the around 7,000 students here come from abroad, mainly from India, Pakistan
00:46and Bangladesh.
00:48The 33-year-old is doing a doctorate in Experimental Physics.
00:52Ehsan also appreciates the university's international cosmopolitan orientation.
00:58It is confidential and we can bring our concerns and they can also highlight what we can do
01:05to make it in the right direction.
01:08But there's a problem.
01:10There may not be right-wing graffiti here in Cottbus city centre, yet the surrounding
01:14area is anything but cosmopolitan.
01:17The far-right AFD party currently leads in polls for the upcoming September state elections
01:22here, as well as in two other eastern German states holding elections.
01:27Cottbus' AFD candidates are even being monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
01:32And Adelina Awemo, the Christian Democratic Union candidate, was racially assaulted.
01:38One of the people concerned about the increasingly xenophobic climate in the region is university
01:42president Gesine Grande.
01:45Over the years, the extreme right-wing networks, associations and organisations here have developed
01:53an unusual level of coordination and cooperation, and that's created a very specific milieu.
01:59It's not for nothing that the domestic intelligence agency keeps coming back to the region.
02:06They want to shed light on what's going on in these networks.
02:13Abhirami hasn't had any problems so far, neither on campus nor in the city.
02:19Far-right stickers do occasionally show up on campus.
02:23Far-right members have also tried to book rooms for events, and well-known right-wing
02:27extremists have enrolled in order to influence discussions.
02:34We don't want to live in such an unhealthy environment.
02:38All we need is to be accessible and present in an inclusive environment like Cottbus.
02:45So far the city is very welcoming and pleasant.
02:47I don't know if it's the case when the right-wing is coming to action.
02:51I'm really afraid, and it's a kind of threat to our lives as well.
02:58To counter this, Cottbus University has developed a programme against right-wing extremism,
03:02the first of its kind in Germany.
03:04This includes workshops, education on right-wing symbols, and clear messaging such as the motto
03:09on this bench, No Place for Racism.
03:12Cottbus is a pioneer in this respect.
03:16We're now going to work with other German universities nationwide to develop a common
03:20plan of action on how to deal with the far-right exerting its influence.
03:30Ehsan is married with two children and has been living in Cottbus for nine years.
03:34He also hasn't experienced any hostility, be it in the neighbourhood or at the gym.
03:40But the prospect of the far-right AFD coming first in the elections worries him.
03:47Our kids are born here.
03:48They are growing up, but still, you know, nobody knows if they are really born in Germany
03:54or they come from Pakistan because of the appearance of our kids.
04:00And in the street or at some point they could be in danger.
04:03So we are also afraid of this, like what the future holds for our kids.
04:09Other students feel the same way.
04:12Gesine Grande fears for the university's good reputation abroad, but she is not afraid
04:17of the AFD itself.
04:21Even if the worst case were ever to come about and we ended up with an AFD-led government,
04:27we would still have our university autonomy.
04:29And no politician of any shade can dictate what we research or teach or how we organise
04:36our campus life.
04:37No one.
04:38That's protected by the constitution and that's a good thing.
04:45Both Abhirami and Ehsan would like to plan their futures in Cottbus.
04:49And the region urgently needs such qualified workers.
04:53So there is a lot at stake for everyone in the upcoming state elections.