By Anadolu staff
BERLIN (AA) - A senior lawmaker from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Tuesday proposed talks with Afghanistan's Taliban and the Syrian regime for deporting illegal immigrants to their home countries.
"We will have no choice but to hold technical talks with the Taliban regime and the regime in Damascus on single issues, such as deportations," SPD lawmaker and the party’s foreign policy spokesman Nils Schmid told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media outlet.
He noted that while Germany closed its embassy in Damascus after the civil war erupted in 2011, and withdrawn its embassy staff from Kabul in 2021, “contacts have not been completely broken off with either Syria or Afghanistan," and argued that carrying out talks with them was now necessary to address the problem of irregular migration.
The German government in the past ruled out any steps toward “normalization with the Assad regime” and repeatedly accused Damascus of oppression and atrocities against the Syrian people.
Berlin had also adopted a tough stance against the Taliban, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock repeatedly saying that Germany will not recognise the de facto government in Kabul, and will not cooperate with it.
- Government under pressure
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition came under increased pressure from the opposition parties this week after a stabbing attack in Solingen, in which three people were killed and eight others were injured by a Syrian national.
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.
The Daesh/ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Chancellor Scholz on Monday acknowledged legal and practical problems in deporting violent offenders as well as illegal immigrants to their home countries, but promised that his government will undertake stronger efforts to address this issue.
Germany’s main opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) 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 asylum seekers should be deported to their home countries without delay.
Alice Weidel, 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.