Solingen attack provokes debate over migration laws in Germany; the suspect found

The stabbing attack in Solingen on August 23 provoked a heated debate over migration laws across Germany after the suspect was declared to be a Syrian national refugee, prompting questions about the country´s future.

Solingen attack; suspect a Syrian refugee in Germany

After the stabbing at the Festival of Diversity in Solingen resulted in fatal consequences for three people and left at least eight injured, the police force named their prime suspect Issa Al H (surname omitted due to German privacy law). The 26-year-old Syrian national turned himself into police on August 24 and was revealed to be refugee, rejected for asylum and pledging allegiance to the “Islamic State” terror group.

The attacker had previously been searched for by German authorities, who arrived at his accommodation in Paderborn in June 2023, intending to send him back to Bulgaria, which was the first European country that Issa Al H had entered; yet he was nowhere to be found. A while later, he was put in a refugee home in Solingen; managing to stay in Germany for more than six months, the responsibility of processing his asylum-seeking application was passed from Bulgaria to Germany. 

Having applied for asylum in Bielefeld, Germany in 2022, Issa Al H has been living under Germany´s granted subsidiary protection. Despite being denied asylum, he was able to remain in the country. According to official German statistics, last year alone, more than 70,000 refugees were given the same protected status in Germany.

Solingen attack; Germany´s migration debate 

Much like the horror incident in the UK´s Southport stabbing, which had sent the nation into a crisis of anti-migration protests, the Solingen attack fuelled a national debate on Germany´s deportation laws. Germany´s right-wing activists urged the government to take measures to control migration, blaming the authorities for allowing the Solingen attacker to remain in the country. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Solingen on August 26 to pay his respects to the victims and stated; “We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and should not remain here in Germany are sent back.” While right-wing parties expressed their condemnation of refugees, some Solingen residents counterprotested against the far-right. 

Solingen resident, Matthias Marsch, 67, said to the press; “They are trying to use this tragedy to foment fear,” as he stood against the right-wing “Our People First” protests.

A local newspaper Der Stern highlighted that despite the issue having to be managed; “Not everyone who addresses the problems of immigration is a Nazi.” 

For Solingen, a city that celebrates diversity festivals, 20 per cent of residents aren´t German, according to official sources. A working-class city, Solingen had relied on immigrants to work in the service industry and manufacturing jobs for years.

In cities like Offenbach, near Frankfurt am Main, an entire 35 per cent of non-German residents had been recorded in 2017; today, immigration lies at the core of German culture and politics.

Solingen attack; the future of Germany

In January this year, the German government accepted a raft of new measures proposed by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, including extended detention periods for those to be deported, and extended search and seizure rights for suspects of hiding or pending deportees.

The Deportation Improvement Act also introduced a new rule stating that being a member of a criminal organisation, even if you haven´t been convicted of a crime, is grounds for deportation; something which could have prevented the Solingen attack had it been monitored.

Some German media, however, remain positive that needed changes are coming; The Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung released a report in May 2024, revealing that the official number of deportations in the first quarter of the year had risen drastically by 34 per cent in a year, reaching 4, 791 cases. 

Faced with the current surge of migration debates, Germany´s Chancellor said on August 28 that the national Interior Minister would chair “confidential and targeted talks” with relevant political parties, aiming to “further reduce irregular migration to Germany,” and adapt new strategies.