The attack in Solingen has fuelled the debate about migration. The FDP faction now wants to abolish social benefits for rejected asylum seekers. NRW Prime Minister Wüst wants to review them.
After the deadly attack in Solingen, politicians from the FDP and the Union are questioning social benefits for rejected asylum seekers. There should no longer be “any social benefits” for those required to leave the country, said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr to the “Bild” newspaper. FDP parliamentary group vice-chairman Konstantin Kuhle confirmed in the magazine “Stern”: “If someone is not allowed to stay here, they should not receive social benefits either.” Both left open how this would be implemented in concrete terms.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst spoke out in favor of reviewing the benefits for rejected asylum seekers. “I have long been in favor of reviewing our catalog of social benefits and adapting them to the rules of other EU countries,” the CDU politician told “Stern.” “Anyone who has to leave the country should leave immediately after a legally binding decision has been made.” The period between the decision and the actual departure must be shortened.
The knife attack in Solingen, which left three dead and eight injured, reignited the debate about migration and asylum policy. The suspected perpetrator is a 26-year-old Syrian who is in custody and was supposed to be deported in 2023, but this failed. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of having joined the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS), which claimed responsibility for the attack.
Discussion between Scholz and Merz on migration expected
The possible consequences for migration policy from the knife attack will also be discussed at a meeting between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and CDU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz (CDU), which is expected today. The “Handelsblatt” reported on the date, but it has not been officially confirmed. CDU/CSU parliamentary group manager Thorsten Frei said on Monday on Phoenix that Merz had again offered Scholz cooperation on the issue of migration on Sunday. A meeting between the two is planned for this week.
CDU leader Merz brought a list of demands with him to the meeting with the Chancellor. In his email newsletter “MerzMail” on Sunday, he called for a freeze on the admission of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan and for the general possibility of deporting rejected asylum seekers back to these two countries. In the newsletter, he left open how such a freeze on admission would be legally implemented. The SPD and the Greens criticized Merz’s proposal.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that he did not want to pre-empt talks on the possibility of cooperation between the Chancellor and the opposition leader. He added: “Of course, the proposals must always be ones that do not violate the Basic Law or the UN Human Rights Charter or anything similar.” Possible agreements must be “reasonable and effective.”
Klingbeil: Don’t get caught up in party-political pettiness
In light of the attack, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil spoke out in favor of cooperation across party lines. He hopes “that we work together with the democratic parties in this country,” he said in an interview with RTL/ntv. In times of Islamist terror, one should not fall into party-political pettiness, but should see where one can work together and make improvements.
Klingbeil also rejects a general ban on the admission of Syrians and Afghans, as Merz is calling for. “I want to make it very clear to you that I would have great problems if we told women, for example, who are fleeing Syria or Afghanistan because their lives are threatened by IS that they will not be protected here,” said the SPD leader. Dangerous people and criminals would have to be deported to Afghanistan and Syria. “That is a legally difficult process, but it is clear that it has to happen.”
From the perspective of SPD foreign policy expert Nils Schmid, it is almost impossible to avoid the German government making contact with the Taliban in Afghanistan and the government in Syria. “We will not be able to avoid having technical talks with the Taliban regime and the regime in Damascus on individual points, such as deportations,” he told the German editorial network. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry said on Monday that negotiations with various states were underway.
Source: Stern
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