A fatal stabbing incident in Aschaffenburg, southern Germany, has ignited a heated debate over immigration policy at the federal level. Opposition parties are demanding comprehensive border surveillance and increased deportations.
According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, the deportation of the suspect involved in the deadly stabbing, which occurred on January 22, failed due to a missed deadline. The Afghan national’s asylum request was denied in June 2023, and he was ordered to be deported to Bulgaria under EU migration rules. However, the Bavarian immigration authorities were only notified of the pending deportation on July 26, just six days before the deadline, which lapsed without action.
The suspect, a 28-year-old Afghan, had expressed a desire to return to Afghanistan in December but could not do so due to a lack of necessary documentation from the Afghan consulate.
Following the incident, Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, called for an immediate parliamentary vote to close the country’s borders. Weidel, who is a candidate for the chancellorship in the upcoming elections on February 23, urged the conservative opposition coalition, comprising the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, to abandon their reluctance to cooperate with her party in passing legislation aimed at border closure and the repatriation of undocumented migrants.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, has repeatedly dismissed cooperation with the Alternative for Germany party, which ranks second in opinion polls. He has called for drastic changes in immigration policy and a significant increase in deportations following the stabbing incident, stating that the current situation represents a culmination of failures in asylum and immigration policy over the past decade.
This incident has raised questions about the effectiveness of Germany's immigration policies, particularly in light of the previous administration's decision to allow hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers into the country during the 2015 migrant crisis.