The attack happened Friday at a 'Festival of Diversity' which the German town of Solingen was holding to celebrate 650 years since its founding. There was an outdoor concert and close to the stage three people were killed and several more injured by a man wielding a knife. The attacker reportedly stabbed each person in the neck and then ran away. People at the scene claimed he shouted "Allahu Ackbar" during the attack.

A manhunt was launched but about 24 hours later the killer turned himself in to police. He was identified as Issa al Hasan, a Syrian asylum seeker who should have been deported 18 months ago. I've added in the attacker's full name which German publications aren't allowed to print.

At the end of 2022, al H[asan], 26, traveled to Germany and applied for asylum in Bielefeld. According to the so-called Dublin rules of the European asylum system, however, Bulgaria would have been responsible for him because he had entered EU territory there for the first time. The German authorities submitted a transfer request, the Bulgarians agreed to this, and the Syrian was to be transferred there.

Bulgaria was the first EU country he entered so Bulgaria was responsible for handling his asylum case. He was set to be returned to Bulgaria but he filed a lawsuit with the help of a lawyer in Dresden. That case failed but when authorities went to pick up al Hasan to remove him from Germany, he was gone. Six months later, the order of deportation expired.

There is an open question about the expiration of the deportation order. In circumstances where the asylum seeker is apparently hiding from authorities, as in this case, they are allowed to extend the order. But for some reason that wasn't done here.

Employees of the central immigration authority in Bielefeld could not find him in his refugee accommodation in Paderborn, where he was living at the time.

According to the court spokeswoman, in August 2023 - around half a year after the deportation order was sent - the BAMF informed the administrative court in a written statement that the deadline for transferring al H[asan]. to Bulgaria had since expired. Since the man had not yet been deported, the order he had contested was overturned.

It's pretty clear that al Hasan, probably on the advice of lawyers, knew exactly how to game the system in Germany.

To this day, insiders familiar with the case wonder “why no one had at least asked the neighbors or the security guards about the whereabouts of the wanted man.?" In fact, however, it was apparently left at just one short visit. No further investigations were carried out. As a result, the six-month deadline to transfer the Syrian migrant to Bulgaria passed without being used. Just four days after the deadline, al Hasan reappeared. "He had good advisors from refugee aid or special lawyers; he knew exactly what he was doing," reported a state security officer.

From then on, al Hasan became a case for the German authorities. He was transferred to Solingen, received subsidiary status and state support. Case closed, one would think. The prosecutors are currently trying to clarify where and how al Hasan was active in recent months. 

So al Hasan ran out the clock, which again was not extended for unknown reasons. He then reappeared and instead of being deported was given refugee housing in Solingen starting in December 2023. 

There's little chance he could have figured this out on his own. Presumably his lawyer or someone who knew how the EU asylum system works was helping him. It would be nice to see that person charged with conspiring to help al Hasan break the law but I don't expect it to happen. 

At some point he became radicalized. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack and released a video which claims to show al Hasan pledging allegiance to the group.

In a statement on Saturday, the group said the perpetrator targeted Christians and was a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”.

All of this will play into upcoming regional elections in Germany where immigration remains a hot-button issue. 

A knife attack allegedly perpetrated by a Syrian asylum seeker that authorities are investigating as a possible act of terrorism has renewed a heated debate over migration in Germany ahead of three state elections in which the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to surge...

Migration is a key concern among voters ahead of three state elections in eastern Germany in September. The far-right AfD, with its anti-immigration message, is leading — or close to leading —  local polls in all three states.

“In view of the daily headlines about violence by foreigners, it is no longer possible to say that such events are unpredictable and surprising,” Björn Höcke, the AfD’s lead candidate in state of Thuringia, which goes to polls on Sunday, wrote on X.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Solingen today to visit the scene and speak about the crime. He gave a speech in which he vowed to deport more people who should not legally be in Germany and condemned Islamic terror.

“That was terrorism,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to Solingen on Monday. “I want to make it clear that I am angry and furious at this act, which must be punished quickly and severely.”

Scholz is also vowing to do more about "knife control." I'm not sure how that works given that everyone in the country has knives. It's not as if you need a special knife to kill someone. In any case, he's there because his future is very much at stake in the upcoming regional elections.

His center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is hovering around 5% in opinion polls in both Saxony and Thuringia. That is a knife-edge — 5% is the hurdle for representation in the state parliaments, and if the SPD fails to clear it, Scholz could face serious questions before the national election in the fall of 2025.

"Scholz had great successes in the 2021 election in eastern Germany," Hans Vorländer, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology, told DW. "If they fail to make it into the parliaments now … I'm sure within the SPD there will be questions about Scholz's leadership ability and the next candidacy for chancellor."

The regional elections take place on September 1, next Sunday. Finally, here's a photo of al Hasan.

Als Issa al Hasan nach #Deutschland kam, begann das Katz-und-Maus-Spiel. Das #Abschiebedesaster rund um den mutmaßlichen Mörder offenbart erneut ein komplexes Dickicht an Zuständigkeiten, in dem Tausende abschiebepflichtige Migranten durchs Netz schlüpfenhttps://t.co/3JxLTYmzwe

— Heike 🗽 (@Nailfreak1) August 26, 2024