German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in a government statement about current security issues in Berlin, Germany, June 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to enact tougher measures to deport criminals, terrorists, and terror supporters after a 25-year-old Afghan man committed a fatal stabbing last week.

Currently, Germany does not deport people back to Afghanistan or Syria partly due to the harsh conditions and oppressive leadership in those countries. Afghanistan is run by the Taliban, a brutal Islamist militant organization with which Germany does not have diplomatic relations, while Syria is led by Bashar al-Assad, the Iran-backed leader who has been accused of mass war crimes during his country’s ongoing civil war.

But Scholz is looking to restore deportations to those countries when people from there commit crimes or engage in acts of terrorism. He said on German public radio this week that national security is “more important than protecting the interests of extremists.”

Last week, a video of a brutal fatal stabbing of a police officer went viral in Germany. According to German authorities, the perpetrator was a 25-year-old Afghan man who arrived in Germany in 2014, stabbed a number of people, and struck a police officer in the back of the head. The incident sparked calls for tougher measures against terrorists.

“It outrages me when someone who has sought protection here commits the most serious crimes. Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan,” Scholz responded, in a speech to German lawmakers on Thursday.

“What happened in Mannheim — the fatal knife attack on a young policeman — is an expression of the misanthropic ideology of radical Islamism. There is only one term for this: terror. Let’s declare war to terror,” the German chancellor said.

Scholz indicated he does not wish to limit the deportations to those who have already committed crimes or acts of terrorism, but also wants to deport those who support terrorism.

German officials have recently called for deporting supporters of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza and launched the ongoing war in the Middle East with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

“If we can deport Hamas supporters, we have to do that,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said last year, following pro-Hamas protests and the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 onslaught.

Scholz’s latest comments have caused a wide range of reactions in German politics.

“The time of warnings and condemnations, of denials and announcements, that time is now over. People expect us to act. They expect decisions,” said Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader.

It is unclear how soon such measures could be implemented.

However, one Greens lawmaker said, “What the chancellor is calling for here violates fundamental human rights.” The lawmaker continued, “There are documented arbitrary executions in Afghanistan and torture is legal. Sharia law prevails, which is incompatible with our principles of the rule of law. The demand for deportations paves the way for the recognition of an Islamist terror regime: the Taliban.”

Scholz’s proposal comes amid an upcoming election where immigration is a top concern for Germans. According to a recent poll, refugee and asylum policies are the top issues for voters, and 41 percent put it in their top two issues — which is a greater proportion than any other topic.

Additionally, the far-right Alternative for Germany party is expected to make some gains in the election, putting pressure on other parties to take a tougher stance on migration and deportation.