The internal policy spokesperson for the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm, criticized the failed integration of Afghans and Syrians following violent clashes between migrant youth groups in Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, and called for more effective deportations to both countries. According to police in Tuttlingen, “two obviously rival groups” had confronted each other, including both Afghan and Syrian youth.
Throm told the TV station Welt on Thursday that “these are naturally bad scenes, bad incidents” one sees there. “Raw violence between two youth groups. And this must alarm us, as similar incidents have occurred again and again in many other parts of our country,” he said. “This is a sign that the integration of these migrant groups-Afghanistan and Syria-clearly has not worked properly.”
According to Throm, the coalition is addressing the problem in two ways: First, it is crucial to relieve external pressure and significantly reduce arrival numbers. Asylum application numbers are currently at the lowest level since 2011. Now, the available capacity must be used not only in the municipalities but also at the state and federal level-both for better integration and, on the other hand, for individuals who commit such acts of violence, who have no place in Germany. In the case of these individuals, the focus must increasingly be on their return to their home country after criminal proceedings.
Throm stated that deportations to Afghanistan are currently taking place regularly since Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) became Federal Minister of the Interior. He wants and will enforce this also regarding Syria. Furthermore, criminal offenders have been deported to Syria for the first time again. This still needs to develop and solidify. And a law will also be discussed in Germany in the coming months that can make the return even more effective.
Courts have recently ruled differently regarding deportations to Syria and Afghanistan, considering the individual situation of the person. A frequent reason against deportations was the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 33 of the Geneva Refugee Convention (GRC) also prohibits states from refouling, deporting, or extraditing individuals to a country where torture, inhumane treatment, or serious human rights violations are threatened.
