Munich Attack Rekindles Debate on Deportations to Afghanistan
The Munich attack, which claimed two lives and injured many others, has ignited a renewed debate on deportations to Afghanistan. Lamya Kaddor, domestic policy spokesperson for the Green Party in the Bundestag, has rejected Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder’s (CSU) demand for immediate negotiations with the Taliban. Meanwhile, many questions about the background of the attack remain unanswered. According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), there was no reason for the authorities to be aware of the future perpetrator prior to the attack.
In a statement to the "Rheinische Post," Kaddor argued that Söder’s impulsive proposal overlooks the foreign policy dimension. The Taliban has repeatedly expressed willingness to engage directly with the Federal Republic of Germany. "One can only warn against this, as it amounts to establishing official diplomatic relations that we have not established for good reasons," she said. Söder told "Bild am Sonntag" that there should be a flight to Afghanistan every week. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had already announced on Saturday the deportation of the attacker.
In Kaddor’s view, following the recent attacks, it is essential "to act sensitively in the interests of the relatives and the injured and to await the investigations into the respective cases" in order to draw appropriate consequences. "Deporting such dangerous violent criminals is treating the symptom, not the cause," said the Green politician. Most of these Islamist-motivated perpetrators radicalize only in Germany.
During the attack on Thursday, a 24-year-old Afghan drove into a demonstration by the Verdi trade union with his car. A two-year-old girl and her 37-year-old mother were so badly injured that they died in hospital on Saturday. At least 37 other people were injured. Investigators currently believe that the act has an Islamist background.
Herrmann stated that the perpetrator had not been conspicuous beforehand. "In fact, there has been nothing, as things currently stand, that would have given any cause to pay attention to this man," the CSU politician told "Die Welt." "According to our current knowledge, there were genuinely no particular conspicuous signs in the run-up."
He emphasized that it is a crucial part of the investigation to determine to what extent the man radicalized himself online without any external influence. "Perhaps it is important today to consider how we can further expand the legal options to ensure that extremist content on the internet that glorifies violence or even calls for violence can be blocked or even deleted," he told "Die Welt."
According to Thomas Haldenwang, the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, even radicalized lone actors currently pose a greater threat than Islamist terrorist cells. "Such individuals, whose plan of action often arises very quickly and who use knives or vehicles as weapons, are unfortunately very difficult to detect," Haldenwang told the German Press Agency.
"The common factor among many of these perpetrators is failed integration," he added, referring to the recent deadly violent acts in Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg, and Munich. Haldenwang served as President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for six years from the autumn of 2018 and is running as a direct candidate for the CDU in the Bundestag elections.
