The knife attack in the city of Solingen that left three people dead last Friday will mark a turning point in Germany’s security and asylum policies. The coalition led by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz has agreed to toughen gun and migration laws in an attempt to give a quick and forceful response to an alleged jihadist attack that has shocked the country just days before crucial elections with the far right leading the polls.
The opposition and a large part of the public demanded firmness and concrete measures, and that is what the government has offered them just 24 hours after Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called at a press conference for decisive action against illegal immigration and more deportations. The legal reforms are grouped under what has been called a “security package”. They include stricter rules on the carrying of knives in public places, more powers for the security forces and restrictions on benefits for refugees.
“Following the terrorist attack in Solingen, we are resolutely drawing the necessary conclusions: deportations will be made easier, the authorities will be strengthened in the fight against violent Islamism and gun laws will be further tightened. All of this is included in our security package,” announced Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his social media on Thursday evening. The proposal will be discussed with representatives of the federal states – which are responsible for carrying out deportations – and with members of the largest opposition party, the CDU.
The rise in knife attacks in recent months had already sparked a heated debate about how best to prevent them. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had proposed reducing the maximum blade length of knives that can be carried in public from 12 to 6 centimetres. On Thursday, Faeser announced an absolute ban on carrying knives at parties, sporting events, fairs and other crowded events. The federal states will also be allowed to ban knives in “places with a high incidence of crime”, such as train stations, she explained at a press conference with the liberal Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann.
The German government also wants to cut public benefits for certain asylum seekers. First, for migrants who previously applied for protection in another country, usually the one through which they entered the European Union, and which has agreed to readmit them. Faeser, a Social Democrat, said that “in Germany, no one will die of hunger or sleep on the streets,” but he pointed out that the measure could act as a deterrent and make it easier for these people to be returned to the countries that, according to the Dublin Convention, must take them in.
The second group of refugees who will be cut off from social benefits are those who return to their countries of origin “without compelling reasons,” Buschmann said. For example, those who go on holiday. The ministers specified that the measure will not affect Ukrainians who visit their partners who are serving in the military in their country.
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The government is determined to make the deportation system more effective. The suspected Solingen murderer had an expulsion order. Under the Dublin Regulations, he could have been transferred to Bulgaria last year. Bulgaria had accepted the German request, but the deportation was not carried out because the authorities failed to locate him in the only attempt. Buschmann described it as “shocking” that the deportation failed for this reason and promised to do everything possible to prevent further cases in the future.
The police’s powers will be expanded. “To combat Islamists, we need strong security authorities with additional powers, especially in the digital world. In future, investigators will be allowed to carry out digital biometric comparisons – so-called facial recognition – with publicly available sources, i.e. on the Internet and social media,” Faeser said.
The first criticisms have come as soon as the package of measures was announced. For the Pro Asyl organisation, which cares for refugees in Germany, proposals such as the withdrawal of benefits for some asylum seekers “are probably unconstitutional”. “The Constitutional Court has made it clear: social benefits must not be arbitrarily cut or reduced in order to create a supposed deterrent effect,” the organisation told AFP.
The government’s reaction comes just days before elections in two eastern German states, where the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is leading the polls. The attack in Solingen has intensified an already existing debate on migration and asylum laws, increasing pressure on Scholz’s government to take a tougher stance.
The chancellor has welcomed an offer from the opposition leader to set up a working group on migration, but has already rejected some of the proposals made by Merz on Tuesday, such as declaring a national emergency or banning Syrians and Afghans from entering Germany. The security package presented on Thursday must be voted on in the lower (Bundestag) and upper (Bundesrat) houses of the German parliament.
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