Process against Syrian brothers: Messer attack stirs up deportation debate!

Process against Syrian brothers: Messer attack stirs up deportation debate!

At the Stuttgart district court, a sensational trial against three brothers of a Syrian family ended. The brothers, who were on trial because of a knife attack on Königstrasse in July 2022, were charged with attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm. Faced with these severe allegations, the public prosecutor accuses the accused of attacking their victims after a supposed disruptive factor in the form of "unpleasant looks". With this brutal attack, a man was so seriously injured that he had to be hospitalized with life -threatening injuries. Interestingly, one of the brothers confessed to the attack, but blamed insults as a trigger for the crime, such as [SWR] (https://www.swr.de/swrakraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/stuttgart/messer attack-koenigstrasse-ssyrische-brenedenfamilie-Familie-Familie-Familie-Familie-Familie-pronent-100.html) reported.

The process was not only shaped by the deeds of the brothers. Disruptions in the courtroom and difficulties in the arrival of a central witness from Turkey led the procedures to extend. The entire situation has not been without effects: reports about the extended Syrian family followed a heated debate about the need and feasibility of deportations. Above all, the State Secretary of Justice Siegfried Lorek is committed to relieved returns to Syria, but currently such measures are not enforceable because of the rights of residence and an existing ban, as well as [schwaebische.de] (https://www.schwaebische.de/regional/baden-wuerttemberg/syrischer-klan-macht-arger-feuzen- die-Schieberbatte-3286842).

family background and problems

The brothers come from a large family, whose father is also known to the police. He lives in the north of Stuttgart with two wives and over ten children. All family members came to Germany between 2015 and 2020 and enjoy refugee or subsidiary protection status. The family relationships are complicated: subsidiary protection is not granted on the basis of individual persecution, but from the devastating conditions in the civil war in Syria, which now ends, but still has a lot of uncertainties.

In the context of this debate, it is important to mention that there are currently around 975,100 Syrian citizens in Germany. This group continues to make up a large part of the asylum seekers who have come here in recent years. Many of them have now achieved German citizenship, but the integration challenges remain, especially in the crime of individual family members, who, as a whole, influence the image and perception of the refugee community. For example, 22 percent of total protection seekers in Germany are Syrian origin, as the Media service Integration shows.

political debates and future perspectives

Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Justice Marion Gentges makes it clear that the returns must be part of stable conditions in order to cope with the refugee crisis in the long term. Gentges also calls for the pressure on Syria and to couple the reconstruction aids to repatriations. In a phase in which Syria is experiencing a change of change and the transitional government is determined by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Scham (HTS), the question of the returns is more difficult than ever.

In addition, there are efforts within the country to keep an eye on the situation: the special staff of dangerous foreigners (SGA) focuses on tracing offenders and potential threats. Over 490 deportations have been carried out since it was founded, but the decline in measures has raised questions in recent years.
The goal is clear, but the way there remains bumpy, and the debate about security and fundamental rights will probably continue for a long time.