The chancellor has responded to a knife attack in Solingen perpetrated by a suspected ISIS-linked Syrian migrant
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to take a stricter approach to illegal immigration and expedite refugee deportations in response to a deadly stabbing spree allegedly carried out by an asylum seeker of Syrian origin. Scholz made this pledge during a visit to the attack site on Monday.
On Friday night, a lone knifeman attacked spectators at the Festival of Diversity in the city of Solingen. Three people were killed in the attack, and eight others were injured. While the suspected perpetrator fled the scene amidst the chaos, he later surrendered to authorities.
German media later reported, citing authorities, that the suspect is a 26-year-old Syrian refugee who entered the country seeking asylum in 2022. According to reports, he may have been acting on orders from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), which initially claimed responsibility for the attack.
Scholz condemned the attack as an act of “terrorism against us all,” and vowed to take action to prevent further incidents.
“I am angry and furious about this act. It must be punished quickly and severely… We must do everything we can to ensure that such things never happen in our country,” the chancellor said, adding that Berlin must “ensure that those who… are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported.”
Scholz was referring to migrants who have committed serious crimes or whose asylum applications have been rejected. He added that while deportations have increased by roughly two-thirds compared to 2021, the government will continue to pursue legal and practical measures to remove individuals who pose a security threat from the country. He also proposed establishing a task force with other EU member-states to handle ‘Dublin cases’ – refugees who enter Germany from other European countries while already registered for asylum elsewhere.
According to German media outlets, the suspect in Friday’s stabbing initially applied for asylum in Bulgaria before entering Germany. However, when his application was rejected by the German authorities in 2023, and they attempted to deport him, he could not be located.
In addition to cracking down on illegal migration, Scholz pledged to tighten regulations on weapon ownership, particularly knives, in light of last week’s stabbing.
Migration has been a subject of heated debate in Germany for years, with local governments frequently complaining that their budgets are stretched too thin to accommodate all asylum seekers. Following the Solingen stabbing, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), Friedrich Merz, criticized Berlin’s immigration policies as “naive,” and called for a complete halt to the admission of refugees from countries considered unsafe, such as Syria.