The German chancellor’s comments on toughening up deportation policy come after a series of violent incidents in the country, including a stabbing at a far-right rally in Mannheim.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed on Thursday to deport criminals convicted of serious crimes back to their home countries, including high-risk ones such as Syria and Afghanistan.
“Such criminals should be deported — even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan. Serious criminals and terrorist threats have no place here,” Scholz said in a speech made to the Bundestag.
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He added that Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior was already looking for ways to legally implement his remarks into policy, saying, “Germany’s interest in security outweighs the perpetrator’s interest in protection.”
The SPD politician added that those who glorify and celebrate terrorist crimes would also face deportation, concluding, “we will tighten our deportation regulations so that even condoning terrorist offences is followed by a serious interest in deportation.”
His comments are a marked change in policy following a spate of violent incidents in the southwestern German city of Mannheim.
A policeman was stabbed and later killed on Friday after a man injured five participants who attended a rally organised by the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa.
