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Merz Vows Permanent Border Checks and Entry Ban After Afghan Asylum Seeker's Deadly Attack on Child and Man

Jan 23, 2025, 11:21 AM

Friedrich Merz, the conservative front-runner in the race for Germany's chancellorship, has promised a significant overhaul of the country's migration policy following a deadly knife attack in Aschaffenburg by a 28-year-old Afghan asylum seeker. The attack resulted in the deaths of a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man who tried to intervene. Merz has vowed to implement permanent border checks and a 'de facto entry ban' for illegal migrants on his first day as chancellor. This policy shift comes amid heightened political debate on migration, with Merz stating that he is indifferent to who joins him politically on this path. The incident has also prompted reactions from other political figures, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who criticized the execution of migration policies in Bavaria, and CSU leader Markus Söder, who called for a 'zero tolerance' approach to migration.