Illegal Activities Illicit Deeds Transgressions Unlawful Behavior Criminal Actions Antisocial Conduct Malfeasance Immoral Acts Unethical Conduct Law Violation Deviant Actions Culpable Acts Skulduggery - Demands for deportation follow knife attack in Mannheim.
Following a fatal knife attack in Mannheim, there's been a growing demand for stricter deportation of foreign criminals. Hamburg's Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD) and several union-governed federal states support the proposal of deporting highly criminal foreigners to Afghanistan and Syria in the future. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr stated that people who become more Islamic should also be deported to countries like Afghanistan.
A 25-year-old Afghan pulled out a knife at an Islam-critical demonstration on Mannheim's market square, injuring six men including a police officer. The officer later passed away from his injuries. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann mentioned on platform X that there are now clear indications of an Islamic motive.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office said they assumed a religious motive of the perpetrator and started investigations. They think the man was trying to deny Islam-critical people their right to their opinion freely expressed.
The discussion about Islamism and foreign criminals has heated up. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will address the Bundestag on the current security situation. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann posted on platform X: "There are now clear indications for an Islamic motive."
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) suggested creating "conditions for the possibility of returning criminals and dangers to Syria and Afghanistan, respecting constitutional considerations of basic and human rights and taking into account individual cases." The federal government has stated a lack of diplomatic contacts – which is unacceptable.
Hamburg proposed for the Interior Minister Conference (IMK) that the ministerial round should ask the Federal Interior Ministry to reassess the security situation in Afghanistan and the Syrian capital, Damascus. "We have to find a way to resume deportations of criminals, but also of dangers and Islamic constitutional enemies, to Afghanistan," said Senator Grote.
"Too late, but at least," said Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU). "If Hamburg and the federal SPD had followed the union-led states' proposals last year, there would have been deportations to Afghanistan and Syria for a long time."
The Federal Interior Ministry said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) is thoroughly looking for ways to resume deportations of criminals and threats to Afghanistan. This action must be based on Germany's security interests outweighing the stay interests of the affected person. With the difficult security situation and a lack of internationally recognized government in Afghanistan, there are challenging questions to answer.
Afghanistan saw the Islamist Taliban regain power in the summer of 2021, while Syria is ruled by Bashar al-Assad, who brutally suppressed protests in 2011 and dealt with a continuous civil war.
The head of the IMK, Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU), said, "The debate about deporting serious criminals to countries like Afghanistan and Syria has been going on for a long time. Reaching an agreement on this matter would be very welcome." However, it's important to acknowledge that "we cannot solve all the problems with deportations alone."
The CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann called for a "Plan of Action: Political Islam" in a guest article in "Welt." Islamist organizations should be banned, calls for a caliphate should be prosecuted under criminal law, and anyone who doesn't uphold German legal order and values negatively impacts their guest status.
In response to the Mannheim tragedy, there are requests for knife bans at certain locations. The deputy CSU parliamentary group leader Andrea Lindholz mentioned to the "Rheinische Post", "Carrying knives should be prohibited, especially in places where many people gather - for example, in crowds or at train stations."
8,000 people came together at a memorial event for the slain police officer. Mannheim's event held 8,000 people on Monday evening according to police, with other officials such as Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl and Federal Minister Faeser laying flowers.
In 2013, the offender arrived in Germany and applied for asylum. His application was turned down in 2014. A deportation prohibition was likely due to his youth at the time. The offender lived in Heppenheim, Hesse, with their wife and two children. According to reports from security sources, he hadn't previously been noticed for any criminal behavior or extremist tendencies before the assault.
