German chancellor wants to deport migrant criminals

Violent offenders from foreign countries should be sent back home, Olaf Scholz has said

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has told parliament that he wants to allow the deportation of migrants who commit violent crimes to their countries of origin, including Afghanistan and Syria, according to national media.

The comments come after a man believed to be an Afghan asylum seeker fatally stabbed a police officer, sparking a debate over the current ban on deportations to countries deemed unsafe.

In a government statement on the security situation in Germany on Thursday, Scholz said that the Interior Ministry was looking for “legally and practically viable ways” to enable the expulsion of dangerous offenders.

“Such criminals should be deported – even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan,” he stated. “Serious criminals and terrorist threats have no place here.”

The chancellor argued that when it comes to such threats, Germany’s security interests outweigh the perpetrator’s interest in protection, the Handelsblatt newspaper wrote. 

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The Interior Ministry is in talks with countries that share borders with Afghanistan on how to implement the deportations, Scholz added.

”Anyone who glorifies terrorism is going against all of our values and should be deported,” he said.

In addition, deportation rules will be tightened so that condoning terrorism can be considered grounds for removal, Scholz added. However, the chancellor cautioned against any law enforcement discrimination against the 20 million residents of Germany with an immigrant background, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine. 

Last week, a stabbing attack at a rally organized by the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa in the city of Mannheim left several people wounded, including a 29-year-old police officer, who later died of his injures in hospital. An Afghan asylum seeker was detained following the attack.

Since the incident, major German parties including the Social Democrats and the CDU/CSU have called for tougher deportation rules.

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Germany suspended deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul. Berlin also forbids expulsions to Syria, as the country is not deemed safe due to a long-running civil war.

Germany saw a surge in immigration last year, with the number of people applying for asylum jumping by 51% compared to the previous year. The largest group of asylum seekers – over 30% - came from Syria. Turkey was second, followed by Afghanistan.