The German Federal Chancellor is making a statement. While the original text reads: "Bundeskanzler gibt Statement ab" In English: "The Federal Chancellor gives a statement" The paraphrased text could be: "Germany's prime minister makes a public address" or "Germany's leader talks to the public" - Scholz seeks to remove serious offenders to Afghanistan.
Following the fatal stabbing incident in Mannheim, Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to permit the expulsion of notorious criminals to Afghanistan and Syria once again. Mr. Scholz, an SPD member, expressed this in the Bundestag on Thursday, asserting that "Criminals of this nature must be deported, even if they originate from Syria and Afghanistan," and added that "threats of serious crime and terrorism have not diminished."
The exact implementation measures have not been disclosed by the Chancellor in his government statement. The Federal Interior Ministry is currently working on fulfilling these plans and has already held talks with the neighboring countries of Afghanistan regarding this issue.
Refusing to tolerate the fanfare associated with terrorist offenses, Chancellor Scholz announced the strengthening of expulsion rules. He stated, "We will sharpen our expulsion regulations so that a serious expulsion interest arises from the commission of terrorist acts." Individuals who glorify terrorism, in his opinion, go against all of our values and must be deported.
Furthermore, the Chancellor announced a stricter approach to criminal law due to the stabbing incident on Friday. Concerning attacks against those who try to assist and safeguard lives or entice them into ambushes, he emphasized, "We will specifically harden the criminal law and punish these sly traps with great severity. It must also become more common to designate prohibited weapon and knife zones."
In Mannheim, an Afghan individual assaulted five participants of the anti-Islamic movement Pax Europa and a police officer with a knife, resulting in one police officer's death. It sparked a debate concerning the possibility of lifting the deportation ban to Afghanistan.
Since the Caliphate's takeover in Kabul in August 2021, Germany has not sent anyone back to Afghanistan. Previously, only men - particularly criminals and allegedly "terrorist threats" - were agreed upon for forced return to Kabul.
"The fatal knife attack on a young police officer is an outcome of a hostile attitude towards humans, a radical Islamism," Chancellor Scholz stated. "The one and only term for this is terror. Terror we declare: it's a fight!"
Chancellor Scholz believes that the security interests of Germany carry more weight than the protection interests of the offender in cases of serious criminals and terrorist threats.
The Interior Ministers' Conference (IMK) of the Federal Government and the States had complained in December that serious criminals and dangers could not be deported to nations such as Syria or Afghanistan. They requested solutions from the Federal Interior Ministry by the next IMK session on June 19.
To deport by plane, cooperation with the Taliban authorities in Kabul or the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who is actively responsible for the most significant human rights breaches, would be necessary. As Mr. Scholz mentioned in his statement, the procedure will be tested with neighboring countries first.
The Greens are uncertain.
One of the SPD coalition partners, the Greens, express doubts about whether deportations are even possible. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is worried that deported Islamists may plan terrorist activities from there. Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann added in the discussion on the government statement, "People who commit serious crimes must be deported after serving their sentence," but also said that vigilance is necessary for all nationalities to decide the security situation's viability for deportation.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, on the other hand, demanded immediate and decisive action from Scholz. "The time for warnings and condemnations, for hedging and annunciation is over," he said in his reaction to the government statement. "The people expect us to act. They demand decisions. They are waiting for a clear, unequivocal answer from politics."
More than 13,000 deportable people from Afghanistan currently reside in Germany
According to the Foreigners' Registration Office, 13,396 deportable individuals from Afghanistan were in Germany as of the end of April. However, 11,666 of them had a "tolerance," which indicates they could not be deported immediately due to reasons like missing travel documents or health issues. Similarly, out of the 10,026 Syrians registered as deportable, 8,914 of them were claimed to be tolerated as well.
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- Following the SPD's stance, Chancellor Olaf Scholz affirmed the need for stricter migration policies, emphasizing the deportation of serious offenders from Germany, specifically from Afghanistan and Syria.
- In response to the Taliban's takeover in Kabul, the German Federal Government has suspended all deportations to Afghanistan, but this could change due to Chancellor Scholz's recent statements.
- The Taliban's extremist actions in Kabul have prompted concerns about the safety of returning Afghan nationals, but Chancellor Scholz believes that the interests of German security outweigh the protection of individual offenders.
- The Taliban's repressive regime in Kabul has been accused of numerous human rights violations, making the prospect of cooperation with them for deportation purposes controversial.
- The recent knife attack in Mannheim, perpetrated by an Afghan individual, has reignited the debate about the possibility of lifting the deportation ban to Afghanistan.
- The controversial decision to return criminals to Afghanistan or Syria could have implications for the nation's migration and asylum policies, potentially setting a precedent for future cases.
- Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann raised concerns about the safety and effectiveness of deportations to Afghanistan and Syria, arguing for a careful assessment of each case based on security considerations.
- The Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Government are under pressure to find solutions for the deportation of serious criminals, as evidenced by the IMK's complaints in December.
- The German citizens demand clear and decisive action from their leaders in response to the threat of terrorism, as voiced by CDU leader Friedrich Merz after the government statement.
- The deployment of German troops for educational purposes in Afghanistan under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science has been a source of contention, with critics arguing that the focus should be on addressing the root causes of terrorism and extremism.
