Germany to prevent irregular migration, without suspending asylum rights: Chancellor Scholz

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised new measures to prevent irregular migration but ruled out suspending asylum rights, amid calls from opposition parties for a drastic overhaul of migration policy.

“The individual right to asylum will remain in place. This is in our constitution, and nobody can get my support to challenge this,” Scholz said late Tuesday after the main opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) proposed a de facto freeze on accepting refugees.

Scholz announced that the police will carry out more controls at the county’s land borders and will introduce stricter measures to deport violent offenders, but turned down the opposition’s call for blanket rejection of all asylum seekers coming from Syria and Afghanistan.

“I would like to clearly state this: We will not violate the international treaties signed by Germany, we will abide by the law of the European Union, and of course our own constitution,” the Social Democrat politician told public broadcaster ZDF, adding that measures against illegal migrants and violent offenders should not harm refugees, who truly need protection in Germany.

- Government under pressure

Scholz’s ruling coalition came under pressure from the opposition parties after last week’s stabbing attack in Solingen, in which three people were killed and eight others were injured by a rejected Syrian asylum seeker.

The Daesh/ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Authorities have said the suspect came to Germany in 2022, but he did not qualify for refugee status in the country. He was supposed to be deported last year to Bulgaria, the first country he entered in the EU.

Germany’s main opposition Christian Democrats demanded “quick decisions” from the government for a drastic overhaul of migration policy, and asked for stricter deportation measures.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz said Germany should stop taking in any refugees from Syria and Afghanistan, and criminal immigrants should be deported to their home countries without delay.

Alice Wedel, co-chairwoman of the far-right AfD party, called for a moratorium on immigration for at least 5 years, and argued for deporting all irregular migrants who do not currently possess a legal residence permit.

“The groups of people with the highest crime rates – primarily Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis who are staying in Germany illegally – must be deported,” she said.