The Knife attack in Solingen with three deaths has reignited the debate about the course of migration policy in Germany. The suspect is a 26-year-old man from Syria who was actually supposed to be deported. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is investigating him for murder and suspicion of membership in the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS), among other things.
Within a few days, the traffic light coalition agreed on a package in security and asylum policyEven after a first summit between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the federal states, the measures decided upon are far from sufficient for the Union, which is insisting, among other things, on the rejection of migrants at the German borders.
Proposals that sound harsh but cannot be implemented because they violate the Basic Law or European law may be suitable for populist headlines, but they do not make our country any safer
Annalena BaerbockForeign Minister (Greens)
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is now warning against a competition to outdo one another in the debate about stricter asylum rules. “Terrorism cannot be fought in panic mode. In such a heated situation, in which our democracy is being challenged from within and without, we need to differentiate rather than generalise,” said the Green politician the “mirror”.
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“Proposals that sound harsh but cannot be implemented because they violate the Basic Law or European law may be suitable for populist headlines, but they do not make our country any safer,” said the Foreign Minister, who is currently on a trip to the Middle East.
Baerbock does not rule out deportations to Syria
Baerbock’s criticism is directed primarily at CDU leader Friedrich Merzwho has proposed, among other things, that no more refugees from Syria and Afghanistan should be accepted. “The dividing line in the fight against extremism is not between those born here and those who have moved here, but whether or not you stand with both feet firmly on the ground of our constitution,” said the Green politician.
“It is incomprehensible to me what the point of proposals is that are aimed at all Syrians and do not differentiate between an Islamist murderer and a family that fled Syria from IS,” said Baerbock.
Nevertheless, Baerbock did not rule out deportations to Syria in principle. “Serious criminals lose their protection, regardless of where they come from,” she continued. But deportations to Syria are “anything but trivial,” especially since “Syria is not the same as Syria.” “If we strengthen the murderer Bashar al Assad and thus also his allies Iran and Russia, then we would have been dealing with lemons in terms of security policy,” warns Baerbock.
At the same time, she stressed that there are areas in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, for example, which “Assad does not control.” They have already successfully cooperated with the authorities there. “However, there are also fighting there, not least Turkish military strikes,” said Baerbock. “The balance of power and thus the security situation in Syria are highly complex. Anyone who makes blanket statements is revealing above all their ignorance of foreign policy.”
The Union faction wants to support CDU leader Friedrich Merz’s call for refugees to be turned away at the German border. According to AFP information, this is a “top priority” in the draft resolution of the executive board of the CDU/CSU faction, which is to be passed on Friday. Only if the traffic light government is willing to do this will further talks with it about migration policy “make any sense at all”.
In a five-page paper, the parliamentary group executive committee, which is currently holding a closed meeting in Neuhardenberg, Brandenburg, wants to take a comprehensive position on the asylum and migration debate. The draft resolution is entitled “Ready for responsibility: End irregular migration – restore internal security”.
According to the report, it also reiterates other demands from recent weeks and months: the expansion of stationary controls to all German borders, a stop to the admission of Syrians and Afghans, asylum procedures in third countries and an “unlimited exit arrest” for criminals and dangerous individuals.
This week, Merz gave the government a deadline of Tuesday to make a commitment to reject refugees at the borders. Otherwise, he wants to break off the talks with the government camp on asylum and migration policy that began this week. (lem)
