Security package: Juso boss attacks Chancellor Scholz

Mr. Türmer, after weeks of argument, the traffic light groups have reached a compromise on the “Security package“agreed. Satisfied?

Not at all. This package causes a massive shift in discourse to the right because the fight against Islamism is turned into a fight against refugees. That’s wrong.

Many of the also under pressure from the SPD. What’s bothering you?

The improvements are far from enough for us. The traffic light package harasses refugees instead of Islamists, that is the basic problem. It should continue to be easier for children and young people to be deported to countries where they face torture and the death penalty. For so-called Dublin cases, asylum seekers’ benefits are almost completely canceled and their impoverishment is accepted. And I think it is absolutely inappropriate to lock people seeking protection in facilities directly across the border. Instead, we should talk a lot more about how we can integrate refugees well into our society.

“This fell very hard on the last SPD chancellor”

The package of measures is due to be implemented this week Bundestag be decided. According to reports to discipline the SPD faction. According to “Spiegel”, some heard a threat with a vote of confidence. Good idea?

I am glad that there is resistance to this package in the group. I wasn’t at the meeting, but history has shown that the last Social Democratic Chancellor, who tried to use such means to suppress discussions, fell very hard on his feet. I hope that no one who wants to vote against the package will be intimidated by it and can only say to everyone: Don’t let yourself get down, you have the full support of the Jusos. This is much more important for the election campaign, lists and party conferences locally than the Chancellor’s good mood.

What do you now expect from the SPD parliamentary group and the Chancellor?

I expect that as many SPD MPs as possible will not agree to the security package in this form. The package is going in completely the wrong direction.

What should a security package look like that the Juso boss can also go along with?

In response to Solingen, we must take more consistent action against Islamism. More prevention work, tougher action against Islamist incitement online and security authorities that are best equipped are needed. What doesn’t help is the blanket criminalization of refugees. One has nothing to do with the other.

What do you mean by that?

Since 2016, around two million refugees have come to Germany, 40 of whom were in some way involved in or involved in Islamist attack plans. That’s 40 too many. But these relationships show that we have to separate two debates: What does a solidarity-based asylum policy look like? And how can we consistently combat Islamism? But punishing millions of refugees because of 40 criminal Islamists is out of the question.

But the Solingen case shows that there are sometimes fatal connections between refugees and Islamism.

The vast majority of refugees hate Islamists just as much as you or I, and have often even fled Islamism. The traffic light has not given a consistent answer to the question of how it wants to combat Islamism. This created a vacuum that the AfD exploited after the knife attack in Solingen – unfortunately with the support of Friedrich Merz and his CDU – by equating refugee migration with Islamism. The democratic center has failed to counter this right-wing and false rhetoric – they have surrendered to it. That was a big mistake.

“I could only cry at this completely misguided deportation policy.”

A mistake that your SPD also made?

Yes. The SPD is well advised to finally find its own narrative about what a solidarity-based and successful refugee policy and successful integration can look like. I want us to reflect on our incredible strength in integrating people into this society through work and education. The existing work bans for refugees must go. More part-time language courses are needed. Refugees have to become colleagues who are part of our society – in my opinion that is the key.

Chancellor Scholz has declared migration policy to be a top priority and claims that something is finally moving: in terms of regular labor migration, but also the limitation of irregular migration. How satisfied are you with his balance sheet?

At the moment there are no safe and legal escape routes to Europe. As long as these do not exist, those seeking protection are forced to somehow make it across the borders. I therefore fundamentally reject the term “irregular” migration. Now to the Chancellor: Since Olaf Scholz wants to deport people on a large scale, the immigration authorities have been trying to somehow increase their numbers. The result: people who are perfectly integrated here are deported. An 18-year-old was just deported in Hesse who already had a training contract in nursing on the table. That’s crazy – and unfortunately also a result of the deportation rhetoric that the Chancellor used a year ago. I could only cry at this completely failed deportation policy.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced further deportation flights to Afghanistan for dangerous people and criminals. Agreed?

It completely contradicts my understanding of the rule of law that criminals are deported to countries where no one can guarantee that they will actually serve their sentence. That’s exactly what happened during the last deportation to Afghanistan: the criminals were released again after a short time. There needs to be consistent punishment according to constitutional standards – and the Taliban’s justice system certainly doesn’t provide that.

Isn’t this debate being held in the SPD?

My impression is that as social democrats we need to talk above all about how we can integrate refugees quickly and well into our society. There are enormous opportunities for our society and for refugees, who mostly want exactly that: to arrive here and find a job. 21,100 refugees are already working as nursing staff every day to prevent our healthcare system from collapsing. We have to learn from such success stories. But that doesn’t work if we constantly talk about migration and refugees as if they were a massive threat to our country. I think they represent a great opportunity for our society.