Rape at Illerkirchberg: Deportation scandal: “Such perpetrators must never be allowed to walk around freely in Germany again”

A FOCUS Online article about the rapist (31) from Afghanistan, who now lives at the scene of his crime after serving his prison sentence and does not want to leave Germany, caused a lot of excitement. The Union wants to prevent such cases in the future – with a tough plan.

The current developments in the case of the convicted rapist from Illerkirchberg (Baden-Württemberg), which FOCUS online reported on this week, have caused a stir nationwide. After serving his prison sentence, the 31-year-old man from Afghanistan is once again living in the place where he committed his brutal crime – and wants to stay in Germany.

The man who raped a 14-year-old girl together with other immigrants in 2019 told his lawyer: “People have to realize at some point that they can’t get rid of me.” He entered Germany in November 2015, his asylum application was rejected in 2017, and since then he has been considered tolerated.

After the end of his two-year prison sentence, he was briefly held in deportation detention, but attempts to send him back to his home country failed. A court has already ruled that the man can be deported from a legal perspective.

However, since the Taliban came to power in 2021, Germany has not sent anyone back to Afghanistan. This even applies to serious criminals like the rapist, who was convicted and now lives in Illerkirchberg again. He continues to live at state expense and, according to his lawyer, will soon become a father, which further increases his chances of permanent residence in Germany.

Many people find this unbearable. They consider the current deportation policy of the traffic light government to be a fiasco and accuse those responsible, such as Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (both SPD), of only talking about tougher measures but not taking action. The Union no longer wants to accept the situation.

The domestic policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm, told FOCUS online with reference to the released rapist from Illerkirchberg: “We want to create an indefinite exit detention centre for these perpetrators in particular, to which they will be transferred immediately after their prison sentence. People must stay there until they leave Germany voluntarily. The only way to freedom is to return to their homeland.”

CDU man Throm has developed a corresponding concept, which the Union faction in the Bundestag unanimously accepted and which was discussed in parliament this week. The core message of the “exit arrest” model: “The way back into German society is permanently blocked. But the way back home is always open.” How long someone has to remain in exit arrest depends entirely on them.

Throm told FOCUS online: “Anyone who behaves like the perpetrator from Illerkirchberg or other serious criminals has forfeited their right of hospitality.” It must be made clear to these people “that there is no prospect for them in Germany under any circumstances, no hope of being tolerated or anything like that.”

The CDU politician said of the aim of his initiative: “Such perpetrators must never be allowed to walk around freely in Germany again!” Serious criminals and highly dangerous extremists who have blatantly violated our laws and rules should no longer be treated with kid gloves. “It is reasonable to expect them to live in Syria or Afghanistan,” said Throm.

The Heilbronn lawyer rejects accusations from critics that the proposed model is inhumane and does not comply with the principles of a constitutional state and points to Canada, which is often cited as an example of successful migration policy. The Canadian “Immigration and Refugee Protection Act” allows for unlimited detention, says Throm. Great Britain is pursuing a similar approach with its “Illegal Migration Act”.

One politician who criticizes Throm’s initiative is Clara Bünger, the Left Party’s spokesperson for refugee and legal policy in the Bundestag. In a guest article for the FAZ newspaper, she described the concept of detention pending departure as “contrary to the rule of law.” It would “violate fundamental human rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.”

If people are “forced to behave in a certain way through psychological pressure,” one can hardly speak of a “voluntary” return to countries like Syria or Afghanistan, where they face serious human rights violations or, in the worst case, death. Bünger: “Even an asylum seeker who is a serious criminal has the right not to be deported to a country where war is raging.”

Throm replied that the new instrument would ensure that a highly dangerous person who is required to leave the country can never return to the city “where he raped a child a few years ago.” The German state not only has the right, but also the duty, to “enforce the departure of these perpetrators with all possible consequences.”

Many people, not only in Illerkirchberg, would probably sign this sentence immediately.