- Latest insights into the individual under investigation in Solingen.
Following the suspected terror attack in Solingen that left three individuals dead, fresh insights regarding the main suspect, Issa Al H., have surfaced. Per data from his activity tracking, he was absent from his designated refugee lodgings in Paderborn between April 18 and 24, 2023, for approximately a week. This information stems from a brief submitted by the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Refugee Ministry to the state legislature.
The brief references a record from the Detmold District Administration, which sheds light on the botched expulsion procedure to Bulgaria that took place in June 2023. The Detmold District Administration reveals that Issa Al H. and another Syrian resident of Paderborn were scheduled for deportation on June 5, 2023, at 2:30 AM. However, neither of them was found during the nighttime raid. Issa Al H. was present at the accommodation during lunch that day.
So why wasn't there any restriction imposed on Issa Al H.?
The extended absence of Issa Al H. in April 2023 was unknown to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Bielefeld. Consequently, the office did not consider imposing a 'night curfew,' which would have mandated Issa Al H. to stay in his room at night and potentially prolong the six-month deportation deadline to Bulgaria.
As per the Detmold District Administration's report, Issa Al H. arrived at the state reception facility in Bochum on January 3, 2023. He was subsequently transferred to further accommodations in Bad Salzuflen and Bielefeld before relocating to Paderborn at the end of February 2023. During his stay in the Paderborn emergency shelter, Issa Al H. was described as 'nondescript,' and no indications of radicalization were detected.
Issa Al H. is suspected of being responsible for the knife attack that left three people dead and eight others injured at a city festival in Solingen on August 23. Under the Dublin asylum regulations of the EU, he should have been expelled to Bulgaria, where he was originally registered. The NRW Minister of Refugees, Josefine Paul (Greens), encountered political backlash due to administrative delays in expelling the Suspect of Solingen.
The main suspect, Issa Al H., was residing in Paderborn before his absence between April 18 and 24, 2023. Upon his return, he was transferred to further accommodations in Bad Salzuflen and Bielefeld before settling in Paderborn.
