A chapter of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe has drawn criticism for sending migrants mock deportation notices designed as plane tickets to their "safe country of origin".

In a chilling throwback to fake tickets Nazis sent out fake to Jews offering to send them to Jerusalem, Germany’s far-right party AfD has distributed fake plane tickets to migrants telling them to lea

The AfD in the German city of Karlsruhe has been posting fake ‘deportation tickets’ to voters, including those with a migration background. The incident is being investigated by police as a hate crime.

The incident comes as far-right leaders are embracing increasingly radical proposals to deport migrants en masse ahead of a national election.

During a party conference Alice Weidel publicly endorsed the mass "return" or deportation of people with a migrant background.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party sent "deportation tickets" for "illegal immigrants" to mailboxes around the city of Karlsruhe, a local AfD official confirmed to dpa on Tuesday. Police in the western city have launched an investigation into the campaign stunt on suspicion of incitement to hatred.

A former EU official is accused of suggesting the European Union could try to annul Germany’s election results if the right-wing party wins.

Germany's AfD party has unveiled plans for a complete border shutdown and mass deportations if successful in next month's election. The party, currently polling at its highest-ever national level of 22 percent,