Olaf Scholz defends right to asylum

Agencies BERLIN

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended the right to claim asylum in Germany, rejecting calls for a radical overhaul. “The right to asylum is an integral part of our legal and value system. We must not abandon it today,” he said. 

Directly addressing the Aschaffenburg attack last week, he called  it “a heinous, monstrous crime,” and says that many citizens feel “deeply unsettled” by repeated cases “where the perpetrator abused our protection”.

“It was someone who should no longer be here or at least not be at large,” he added. At the same time, he said there is “an enforcement deficit” at the state level, and argued attacks “could have been prevented with the existing laws.”