Germany cuts asylum seeker benefits and lowers bars to deportation

The German government plans to stop all benefits for certain asylum seekers as part of a package of measures agreed on Thursday to combat Islamist terrorism and rising knife crime after last Friday’s attack in Solingen.
Asylum seekers who came to Germany via another EU country that is responsible for handling their claims under the so-called Dublin system will receive no more benefits provided that the country of entry has agreed to take them back, the centre-left coalition of Olaf Scholz announced.
They will only be provided with what is being dubbed as the “bed, bread and soap minimum” of a place to sleep, food and hygiene products.
The government also pledged to lower the threshold for expelling migrants who commit crimes with weapons and to allow officials to use biometric data aided by AI to establish the identities of migrants. It also agreed to to push for a further reform of European asylum rules to boost the transfers of “Dublin” migrants to other EU countries. Berlin also plans to step up the fight against Islamist online propaganda.
Expelling underage migrants is to be made easier and asylum seekers who make trips to their country of origin for any purpose other than “moral duties” such as funerals are to lose their protection rights.
A task force of experts is to be set up to advise the government on Islamism.
In addition, an “absolute ban” is to be imposed on the carrying of knives at public events. State authorities will also be given powers to ban knives in train stations. Switchblade knives are to be banned outright with exceptions for hunters and workers.
“The attack in Solingen shocked us deeply and we said the government would react to it with tough measures,” Nancy Faeser, the interior minister, told a news conference. “Those who have no right to protection in Germany must leave our country more quickly.”
According to text of the agreement, the government will also “work intensively” to allow the deportation of criminals and potential terrorists to Afghanistan and Syria.
At present, the constitution and the Geneva refugee convention prohibit expulsions to unsafe countries or war zones.
Scholz, whose Social Democrats face a rout on Sunday in two eastern state elections in Thuringia and Saxony that are expected to deliver a surge in support for the hard-right populist AfD, has faced intense pressure to take action after the attack in the western city that left three dead and eight injured.
A failed Syrian asylum seeker aged 26 and named only as Issa al-H has been arrested and has admitted to the attack. The Islamic State claimed responsibility saying the assault was “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”.
The suspect came to Germany in 2022 as a Syrian refugee. His application was rejected and he was ordered to be deported to Bulgaria because he had already registered for asylum there.
There has been an outcry after it emerged that when officials tried to deport him in June 2023, they could not locate him and he remained in Germany. No arrest warrant was issued because his behaviour had been inconspicuous until then.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union opposition party, demanded an end to taking in refugees from Syria and Afghanistan and called for controls on all of Germany’s borders.
At a meeting with Scholz on Tuesday, he offered to work with him to combat illegal migration but then attacked him, telling a news conference that “the chancellor is losing control of his own country”.