Germany is reeling from shock after yet another knife attack by an Afghan migrant. The lethal assault—which took place in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg—was made all the more revolting by the fact that the perpetrator attacked a group of preschool children.
The man, 28-year-old Enamullah O., killed a 2-year-old toddler and a 41-year-old man who was trying to shield the children. Three other people were taken to hospital for treatment after the attack, among them a two-year-old. It happened in a public park, and the suspect was arrested in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene.
As with many previous similar attacks, the alleged perpetrator was someone whose asylum application had been rejected, yet was able to remain at large.
According to German media reports, the man had entered Germany via Bulgaria, Austria, and France in 2022, and unsuccessfully sought asylum. He was supposed to have been deported in December, but he offered to leave the country voluntarily, and go home to Afghanistan. Authorities issued a request for him to leave Germany, but because he failed to show up at the immigration office, he was mostly forgotten about.
To add insult to injury, Enamullah O. remained under psychiatric assessment. He had been receiving treatment for his previous violent behaviour on three separate occasions.
He had, for instance, knifed a Ukrainian woman in a refugee accommodation in Alzenau, a small town near Aschaffenburg. “He kept cutting into her skin. She screamed for help, so I alerted the police,” a fellow Ukrainian resident told German media.
Investigations are ongoing into the motive behind the attack in Aschaffenburg. A search of the man’s accommodation at an asylum centre had not produced “any evidence of a radical Islamist attitude,” and authorities believe the motive is linked “very strongly” to his “obvious mental illness.”
This is not the first time that German authorities have failed to deport a migrant who later went on to carry out similarly vicious attacks. Among the most tragic incidents was the brutal killing of three festivalgoers by a 26-year-old Syrian failed asylum seeker in Solingen in August, and the murder of a policeman by a 25-year-old Afghan failed asylum seeker in Mannheim in May.
Similarly to Enamullah O., the perpetrator of the Solingen terrorist attack, Issa al Hasan not only was not deported, but continued receiving social benefits.
Germany has been shaken by a series of deadly stabbings in recent months. It is no wonder that migration is one of the hottest campaign topics in the run up to the national elections on February 23rd. The opposition right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has gained a lot of support due to its tough stance on immigration, and is set to finish second with 20-22% of the votes.
The AfD’s top candidate, Alice Weidel posted a message on X urging “remigration now!”—using a term to call for the mass deportation of migrants. In another post she urged parliament to vote on closing the borders of Germany and the rejection of illegal immigration.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the “unbelievable act of terror,” and demanded to know why the failed asylum seeker had been able to stay in the country.
