Official failure before Brokstedt assassination – deportation possible – Faeser’s admission raises urgent questions

Around 400 people came to Neumünster on February 5th. In a moving prayer service in the Vicelin Church, they mourned the loss of Ann-Marie and Danny in the presence of the Chancellor and the Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein.

The life of the 17-year-old and that of her boyfriend, who was two years older, ended on January 25. The Palestinian refugee Ibrahim A. attacked the two with a knife on a regional train near Brokstedt and killed them. The man injured five other passengers, some seriously.

Motive: still unclear. Ibrahim A. only wants to comment in court, as his lawyer said. Just under a week before the terrible act, the 33-year-old had been released from custody in Hamburg – apparently without the authorities at his whereabouts in Schleswig-Holstein being informed.

Brokstedt stabber Ibrahim A. could have been deported before the crime

While the citizens of Hamburg and the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein are currently trying to clarify the failure of the authorities, a second debate broke out about the question of why Ibrahim A. was not deported long ago, despite a long criminal record. The general reading was: That is factually impossible.

According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), the assassin could have been deported under certain circumstances. “We tried to get to him, and if we had known that he was in custody, we could have listened to him and then deported him,” said the SPD politician on Monday evening in Berlin. “We now know that there was misinformation.”

According to Faeser, the authorities had previously tried to deport the man – in vain. “The difficulty there seemed to be that he was stateless,” says Faeser. According to her, that would have been a process with the State of Israel and the Palestinian authorities. So far, there have only been very few returns to the Palestinian territories with Israel’s consent.

CDU domestic politician Throm: “Returns to the Palestinian territories are possible”

The domestic political spokesman for the Union faction, Alexander Throm, emphasized to FOCUS online: “I expect the traffic light to bring Palestinian criminals and threats back to the autonomous areas.” Throm is convinced: “Repatriations to the Palestinian territories are possible.”

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, returns to the Palestinian territories are possible in principle, but very difficult. The Gaza Strip has no international airport. In 2018, a Palestinian was deported from Germany to the West Bank via Jordan – with considerable effort.

As the “Welt am Sonntag” reported, “to the knowledge of the Federal Government, no persons were deported to the Palestinian Autonomous Territories in 2021 and 2022”.

Mansour: “They must be clearly shown the way out”

In an interview with FOCUS online, conflict researcher Ahmad Mansour said: “Germany is providing the Palestinians with very strong financial support. Of course, these people could be sent back to Gaza. After all, they come from there.” The situation there is not a pleasant one, but the possibility of returning such criminals to the prison must be considered. Germany must look more actively for solutions here. Especially with dangerous criminals. “They have to be shown the way out,” says Mansour.

At the same time, the qualified psychologist and author emphasized: “There is a very small but existing group among the refugees who abuse the opportunity to get protection and asylum in Germany.” These people live among us, but are never here emotionally arrived. “They represent completely different values, despise our rule of law and have the feeling that they don’t have to fear any consequences.”

Deport offenders more efficiently

The Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther, also made it clear in the “Hamburger Abendblatt”: “I am fundamentally of the opinion that someone who has committed such crimes, some of them serious, in our country and has therefore also been sentenced to imprisonment, has forfeited his right of hospitality.

With regard to Ibrahim A., who has had several previous convictions, it is “bitter” that someone like that is still in Germany – despite all the difficulties that exist in deporting criminals. When it comes to deportations, you have to get better and faster all over Germany. “There is a broad social consensus that we really have to become much, much faster and more efficient in this area with criminals,” says Günther.

Brokstedt’s terrible deed cannot reverse improved deportation practice for criminals in the future. But maybe it will help prevent such a tragedy from happening again.