The Brokstedt case and the German record of deportations among Palestinians

"How could it be that such a perpetrator was still here in the country?" Nancy Faeser asked herself after Brokstedt's bloody deed. Last week, a 33-year-old Palestinian with multiple convictions is said to have stabbed a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old in a regional train near Brokstedt in Schleswig-Holstein. As Federal Minister of the Interior, the SPD politician Faeser has the greatest influence on deportations. One possible answer to your question is: because it is normal for even criminal immigrants not to be brought back to the Palestinian territories.

For years, not a single deportation from Germany to the Palestinian territories has been successful. As the Federal Ministry of the Interior reports to WELT AM SONNTAG, “To the knowledge of the Federal Government, no persons were deported to the Palestinian autonomous areas in 2021 and 2022”.

In an internal analysis by the EU Commission on the problems with the return of Palestinians, the autonomy authorities only issue the absolutely necessary "travel documents if Jordanian, Egyptian and above all Israeli authorities have approved the return via their national territory because direct access to Palestinian territory is missing". The issuing of travel documents for Palestinians who are obliged to leave the EU depends on the verification of the Israeli authorities. They demanded a personally signed application from every returnee.

In the only known case of deportation to the Palestinian territories in recent years, namely the return of an Islamist from Saxony-Anhalt to the West Bank in 2018, such consent was not required. This is reported by an official who was dealing with the case at the time from WELT AM SONNTAG. Israel's consent was required, but not that of the person concerned. The Hamas supporter was therefore deported via Jordan to the Palestinian territory.

In the case of the alleged Brokstedt stabber Ibrahim A., who has multiple criminal records, the obligation to leave the country had not yet occurred because the procedure for revoking his protective title could not be completed due to missing address data.

After the deadly knife attack in the regional train from Kiel, the Hamburg Parliament discussed the consequences. It is still not clear why the alleged perpetrator, who was previously known to the police, was able to move about freely despite his sentences and convictions.

Source: WORLD

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) was not informed at the time that Ibrahim A. was in the Billwerder prison in Hamburg. There he was in custody for a previous knife crime and was only released six days before the knife attack on the train near Brokstedt.

As WELT had researched, the BAMF tried three times to send Ibrahim A. an invitation to the hearing to give him the opportunity to comment on the intended revocation of his protective title. The letter of invitation came back twice because of "unknown moved". The Federal Office then asked the immigration office in Kiel, which is responsible for Ibrahim A., whether a new place of residence was known.

In March 2022, the BAMF received information from the immigration authorities that the applicant had been homeless since July 2021. However, the immigration authorities communicated a "loadable address", a kind of collective address for the homeless. The delivery attempt by the BAMF also sent to this address. The invitation to the hearing in the revocation procedure was again "undeliverable". And that's because Ibrahim A. was already in prison in Billwerder in Hamburg at the time.

The Kiel government factions of the CDU and the Greens presented a ten-point paper with conclusions after the deadly knife attack on January 25. In addition to more security personnel and surveillance on trains, they are calling for more measures to prevent violence and better transition management when people are released from prison. The CDU and the Greens also demanded that criminals be deported “consistently and quickly”. Statelessness should not be an obstacle. The federal government must agree on appropriate agreements so that deportations can take place.

Such readmission agreements have long existed with many important countries of origin of asylum seekers - however, the promises of better cooperation contained therein are rarely implemented.

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