Migration policy: Black-Green coalition in NRW agrees on major security package

Almost three weeks after the terrorist attack in Solingen, the black-green coalition government in North Rhine-Westphalia has agreed on a comprehensive security package. It provides for more police powers and stricter deportation rules. “We are following our words with actions,” said NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) in the state parliament. “We will expand the powers of our security authorities.”

On August 23, a man killed three people with a knife and injured eight others at a town festival in Solingen. The suspected perpetrator, a 26-year-old Syrian, is in custody. He was actually supposed to have been deported last year, but this failed. The terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

More rights in searches and use of artificial intelligence

The reform package in NRW consists of dozens of measures such as strengthening the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, increasing surveillance of potential extremists and improving data sharing between authorities. Wüst spoke of a double turning point, because after the attack in Solingen, a right-wing extremist party became the strongest force in a state parliament for the first time. The state cabinet approved the security package on Tuesday.

Among other things, investigators are to be given more rights in the search for radical Islamists on the Internet, for which artificial intelligence is also to be used. The powers of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in telecommunications surveillance are to be strengthened. For example, it is to be given access to encrypted messenger services.