Germany’s left-wing coalition government managed to deport less than 3 percent of migrants targeted for deportation in the first four months of this year, despite vowing last year to increase deportations.
Following the October 7 terror attacks in Israel and a surge in anti-Semitic and Islamist attacks across Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government would begin “large-scale” deportations of illegal immigrants, rejected asylum seekers and criminal foreigners.
However, according to figures reported by state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, this target has yet to be met, with only 6,300 foreigners deported from Germany between January and April, compared with 240,000 people who received deportation orders, or just 2.63% of immigrants who received deportation orders.
DW reports that around 80 percent of those who have received deportation orders do not have ID or come from countries that Germany currently considers unsafe, such as Syria or Afghanistan, so they cannot be deported, and so Germany refuses to send migrants back to their home countries.
Scholz said the government would consider lifting the ban on the return of migrants to Syria and Afghanistan, following the stabbing death of a police officer after an Afghan asylum seeker was rejected after fleeing deportation because his home country was unsafe.
“I am outraged when people who have sought protection commit the most serious crimes. Such criminals should be deported, even if they are from Syria or Afghanistan,” the prime minister said earlier this month.
Berlin police chief: Young foreign men behind rise in violent crimehttps://t.co/IU92eHaQYn
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 23, 2024
However, this would likely require a request from the Islamist governments that rule those countries, and it is currently unclear when deportations to Afghanistan and Syria might actually resume.
Interior Minister Nancy Fazer said at a conference in Potsdam over the weekend that Germany has begun talks with Afghanistan’s neighbours about the possibility of accepting Afghan nationals from Germany, rather than negotiating with the Taliban regime in Kabul.
The centre-right opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which opened Europe to mass migration under former CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel, is calling on the government to enact a plan similar to the UK Conservatives’ Rwanda model (which has yet to be implemented), which aims to stop illegal immigration into the country by returning migrants to third countries while their asylum applications are pending.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz Criticized He accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of failing to deliver on his promises and suggested he had bowed to pressure from his left-wing coalition partners.
“The Prime Minister is yet to follow through on the promises and announcements he has made… It seems more likely that the concerns of his coalition partners will be taken into account rather than making real changes to immigration policy.”
Islamic extremists likely entered Europe through Ukraine refugee program, German intelligence chief acknowledges https://t.co/Lklqw8SGLC
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 20, 2024
