The primary suspect in the mass stabbing attack in the German city of Solingen, a 26-year-old Syrian identified as Issa Al H., was scheduled for deportation last year. German authorities, however, failed to remove him.
German media reported that the Syrian had first entered the European Union (EU) through Bulgaria, passing through several safe countries en route to Germany. Subsequently, Germany refused his asylum claim last year, planning to send him back to Bulgaria under EU rules, which allow for the removal of illegal immigrants back to the first EU member they entered.
However, Issa Al H. disappeared just before his scheduled deportation. After he reappeared months later, he was “redistributed” to Solingen rather than removed.
He allegedly murdered three people in a mass stabbing attack at a diversity festival in the city on Friday. The Islamic State has taken credit for the killings.
While the Solingen attack appears to be terrorism-related, knife attacks have become more and more common in Germany in general, with the German federal government proposing restrictions on the length of blades that can be carried in public. Even German media admits that the real problem is not how long knives are but the fact much of the knife crime is being committed by migrants. Migrants are behind around 58.5 percent of all of the violent crime that takes place in Germany, according to police statistics.
