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Roundup: Germany proposes tough security measures after terror attacks

Xinhua, August 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

In response to the recent attacks, German Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere on Thursday introduced several measures to increase security in Germany.

"The responsibility for dealing with terrorists is up to the police in Germany," De Maiziere told a press conference regarding a debate on the deployment of German Armed Forces inside the country.

Actions such as staffing the police, prevention and integration, as well as swiftly dealing with offenders should be addressed and implemented in this parliamentary term, he added.

According to the minister, there will be a new directorate of special forces at the German Federal Police that can be invoked in a terrorist situation. There will also be a central department to combat terrorism on the internet, for which there should be undercover officers online.

More security in Europe means more security in Germany, said De Maiziere, adding terrorists' travels through Europe should be hampered by improving cooperation between authorities and achieving a common standard of security systems.

Meanwhile, he called for more social care of refugees in Germany. Refugees should be able to report in their own language when they detect changes or radicalization of their roommates, De Maiziere said.

While respecting medical confidentiality, measures on how to deal with sensitive information about possible terrorist suspects in the future should be taken, he added.

"A new weapons law should lead to strict rules in arms trade over the internet," said the minister.

Foreigners who commit criminal offences will face tougher deportation laws, while dual nationals who fight abroad for terrorist groups will lose their German citizenship, he said.

Last month, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker attacked passengers with an axe on a train near Wuerzburg, wounding five people before being shot dead by police, while a 27-year-old Syrian killed himself in a suicide bomb attack, injuring 15 people in Ansbach.

These assailants allegedly had contact with members of the Islamic State in Saudi Arabia, according to German media. Endit