German parties demanding clarification on ISIS returnees

Hani Daniel

German authorities keep tracking down those returning from Syria and Iraq.

Berlin has not declared the number of nationals who had travelled to the two countries in the past years and joined terrorist groups there.

Nonetheless, German political parties and parliamentary blocs have called on the government to release information about the fate of those who had returned from the two countries as well as whether they pose danger to German security.

Most of the requests submitted to the government in this regard so far came from the right-wing Alternative for Germany Party. The party has lodged several requests for the government, especially to the Foreign Ministry, for releasing information about the fate of those who had returned from Syria and Iraq.

The German Interior Ministry had conceded that it had classified 91 Islamists returning from Syria and Iraq as a national security danger.

It said it also classified 66 more people as having links.

Replying to requests by the Alternative for Germany Party, the ministry said it classifies a person as a national security danger when it expects the same person to be involved in violence on political motivations.

Those classified as “persons with links” are those who carry out leading roles within Islamist circles or those who offer logistical support to extremists, the ministry said.

The German government had previously categorized 61 people as “dangerous Islamists”, after they had returned from other countries. It said these people were ex-fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Federal Office for Criminal Police had earlier revealed that 355 German nationals had returned from Syria and Iraq since 2012.

It added that 266 of those who left Germany for the two countries were killed in them.