He Solingen attack perpetrated by a 26-year-old Syrian refugee – and claimed by Islamic State – has reopened The debate in Germany on the migration policies. In order to prevent terrorism and also to achieve better immigration control, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to step up deportations of foreigners who do not have the right to stay in the country. His commitment comes amid political tension, Criticism from the opposition and three key regional elections, with the Far right as favouritejust around the corner.
Scholz referred to the need to speed up the deportations of those migrants “who do not have the right to remain in Germany” and to achieve better control over migration, during his visit to Solingen, the small town in North Rhine-Westphalia that was the scene of a multiple stabbing at a festival last Friday that ended in three dead and eight injured.
“We will have to do everything possible to ensure that those who cannot or are not allowed to stay in Germany be repatriated and deported,” he said. Scholz.
The chancellor, who placed a flower at the crime scene, said feel “anger” towards Islamists and announced measures to reduce the risk of something similar happening again on German territory.
“I feel anger, my anger is directed against the Islamists. They have to know that We will not cease in our pursuit“, said a furious Scholz.
Speaking at a press conference alongside North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst and Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach, the German Chancellor also stressed the need to discuss weapons. “This is about terrorism, about terrorism against us all and against our way of life. This is something we cannot get used to and will never tolerate,” he warned.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann have said that Islamist terrorism, expulsions and weapons are the three areas in which the German government is already working as a result of Friday’s attack.
Criticism from the opposition
The Criticisms The problems with the German government’s handling of immigration have become even more acute after the attack in Solingen.
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chairman Friedrich Merz has criticised Scholz’s inaction, while proposing Stop receiving Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers as part of the measures to be taken.
Faeser, before the attack, had proposed prohibit the carrying of knives with a blade longer than six centimetres. However, there is no consensus within the coalition and the opposition is skeptical about this measure.
“That would require permanent monitoring. Rather than talking about knives, we should talk about the people who carry out the attacks,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s sister party.
AfD exploits the attack
The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD)which advocates strict immigration controls, has exploited the terrorist attack during its final election campaign events in Thuringia.
AfD’s top candidate in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, has raised a dilemma when asking citizens for their vote: “Hoecke or Solingen“.
AfD leads all polls in Saxony and Thuringia, the states that will hold elections this Sunday, and in Brandenburg, where elections will take place on 22 September.
Hendrik Wust, The head of the regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state in which Solingen is located, said that an investigation still needed to be carried out to explain what had happened. He also called on those who had tried to exploit the attack for their political ends, in reference to some far-right demonstrations, to “leave Solingen alone.”
“What this city needs is calm to deal with what has happened. When something like this happens, the question always arises: ‘why?’ And we politicians have to ask ourselves what we should do,” said Wüst.
This triple date with the ballot, with the far right as the big favourite, is preceded by the brutal attack last Friday during a party to celebrate the 650th anniversary of Solingen. The police arrested a 26-year-old Syrian refugee whom they hold responsible and who is now in prison by court order.
Meanwhile, the terrorist organization Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and said in a statement that this was one of its soldiers who had “attacked Christians to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere.”
The detainee should have been expelled to Bulgariawhere he had first requested asylum, but deportation was not possible.
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