He Attack on Solingen committed by a 26-year-old Syrian refugee – and claimed by the Islamic State – has reopened the debate in Germany on immigration policies. In order to prevent terrorism and achieve better control of immigration, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to step up the deportations of foreigners who have no right to stay in the country. His commitment comes amid political tensions, opposition criticism and three key regional elections, with the Far right as favouritejust around the corner.
Scholz spoke of the need to speed up the expulsions of migrants “who have no right to stay in Germany” and to achieve better control of migration, while your visit to Solingen, the small town in North Rhine-Westphalia that was the scene of multiple stabbings last Friday during a festival that ended with three dead and eight injured.
“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot or are not allowed to stay Germany be repatriated and deported,” he said. Scholz.
The Chancellor, who laid a flower at the scene of the crime, assured feel “anger” towards Islamists and announced measures to reduce the risk of a similar situation occurring on German territory.
“I have anger, my anger is directed at the Islamists. They must know that we will not stop pursuing” said a furious Scholz.
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 terrorism, 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 said Islamist terrorism, deportations and weapons were the three areas the German government was already working on following Friday’s attack.
Criticism of the opposition
The critics due to the German government’s handling of immigration, have been further accentuated after the attack in Solingen.
The chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, criticised Scholz’s inaction, while proposing stop accepting Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers as part of the measures to be taken.
Faeser, before the attack, had proposed ban the carrying of knives with blades longer than six centimetres. However, this measure does not have consensus within the coalition and the opposition is sceptical of it.
“This would require constant surveillance. Rather than talking about knives, we should be talking about the people who commit the attacks,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s sister party.
AfD instrumentalises attack
The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD)The party, which advocates strict immigration controls, used the terrorist attack as an opportunity for its last election campaign in Thuringia.
The AfD’s leading candidate in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, posed a dilemma when he asked citizens to vote: “Hoecke or Solingen“.
AfD leads all polls in Saxony and Thuringia, the “Länder” which will hold elections this Sunday, and in Brandenburg, whose elections will take place on September 22.
Hendrik Wust, The head of the regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state in which Solingen is located, proclaimed that the exact causes of the attack had not yet been investigated. He also called on those who tried to exploit the attack for political purposes, in reference to some right-wing extremist demonstrations, to “Leave Solingen alone.”
“This city needs peace and quiet to deal with what happened. When faced with something like this, the question always arises: ‘why?’ And we, the political leaders, have to ask ourselves what we should do,” Wüst said.
This triple election, with the extreme right as the big favorite, is preceded by the brutal attack last Friday during a party celebrating the 650th anniversary of Solingen. The police arrested a 26-year-old Syrian refugee whom they consider responsible and who is currently in prison by court order.
Meanwhile, the terrorist organization The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. and said in a statement that it was one of its soldiers who “attacked Christians to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere.”
The prisoner he had to be deported to Bulgariawhere he had initially requested asylum, but deportation was not possible.
