Scholz also wants to deport to Afghanistan and Syria
Published: Thursday, Jun 6th 2024, 14:31
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As a consequence of the deadly knife attack in Mannheim, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to allow the deportation of serious criminals to Afghanistan and Syria again.
"Such criminals should be deported - even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan," said the SPD politician in the Bundestag on Thursday. "Serious criminals and terrorist threats have no place here."
In his government statement, the Chancellor did not say exactly how he intends to make this possible. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is working on the practical implementation and is already in talks with Afghanistan's neighboring countries.
Tightening of criminal law and deportation rules also planned
Last Friday in Mannheim, an Afghan injured five participants at a rally organized by the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa as well as a police officer with a knife. The policeman later succumbed to his injuries. "The fatal knife attack on a young police officer is an expression of a misanthropic ideology, of radical Islamism," said Scholz. "There is only one term for this: terror. We are declaring war on terror."
In addition to ending the ban on deporting Afghans and Syrians, Scholz announced further consequences of the attack in his speech just four days before the European elections. We will no longer tolerate the glorification and celebration of terrorist crimes, he said. The deportation rules would therefore be tightened so that condoning terrorist crimes would constitute a serious reason for deportation. "Anyone who glorifies terrorism is against all our values and should be deported." This was Scholz's reaction to posts on social media celebrating the knife attack in Mannheim.
Deportation ban for Afghanistan since 2021
The deportation ban for Afghanistan has been in place since the radical Islamist Taliban took power in Kabul in August 2021. Even before that, it had been agreed that only men - and above all criminals and so-called terror threats - would be deported to Kabul under duress due to the already difficult security situation at the time.
Scholz now wants to return to this regulation. The Chancellor argues that in the case of serious criminals and terrorist threats, Germany's security interests outweigh the perpetrator's interest in protection.
Last December, the German Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) of the federal and state governments criticized the fact that serious criminals and dangerous individuals from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan cannot be deported to their countries of origin. It asked the Federal Ministry of the Interior to look for solutions by the IMK spring meeting on June 19. The results should then be presented.
Problems with practical implementation
However, there are a number of problems with implementation. Deportation by plane would require cooperation with the Taliban rulers in Kabul or the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is responsible for the worst human rights violations. As Scholz said in his speech, repatriation via neighboring countries such as Pakistan or Uzbekistan is now being examined in the case of Afghanistan.
The Greens are skeptical
Scholz could have an implementation problem in his traffic light coalition. The FDP clearly backed his proposal. "Anyone who commits Islamist-motivated crimes here in Germany, from incitement of the people and hatred of Jews to serious acts of violence and homicide, clearly does not need protection from Islamist regimes," said parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr.
However, the Greens are skeptical. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made her concerns clear even before the government statement. Green parliamentary group leader Britta Hasselmann said in the debate on the government statement: "People who commit serious crimes must be deported after serving their sentence." However, she added that all countries of origin must be continuously checked to see whether the security situation allows for deportations. She was skeptical about negotiations with the Taliban. "It will also have to be clarified and examined for which third country it should be attractive to take in terrorists or serious criminals. I am looking forward to seeing what answers we come up with," she said.
CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz called on Scholz to act quickly and decisively. "The time for warnings and condemnation, for waving things off and making announcements is now over," said the CDU chairman in his response to the government statement. "People expect us to act. They expect decisions. They are waiting for a clear, unequivocal response from politicians."
©Keystone/SDA
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