Easing of deportation for people who glorify terrorism

In his government statement to the Bundestag on 6 June 2024, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed that he would no longer tolerate the public glorification of terrorism: "It is a slap in the face for the victims, their families and our democratic constitution. That's why we are tightening our deportation laws so that the approval of terrorist crimes constitutes a particularly serious interest in expulsion."

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser emphasised that public glorification of terrorism incites an atmosphere of violence which might encourage extremists to new acts of violence. "That's why we need tighter laws governing foreigners in addition to rigorous prosecution. We are creating these now. Anyone who does not have a German passport and glorifies terrorist acts in this country must be deported and expelled wherever possible," said Faeser.

What are the changes?

In order to establish that approval of terrorist crimes constitutes a particularly serious interest in deportation, the Federal Government has initiated two changes to the deportation law:

• Firstly, the prerequisites for a particularly serious interest in deportation have been lowered in the Residence Act. This applies, in particular, to cases in which a foreign citizen incites hatred against sections of the population by publicly approving of or encouraging terrorist acts.
• Secondly, a new case group for a serious interest in deportation has been introduced into the Residence Act. According to this, public interest in deportation is particularly serious if someone has committed a crime according to Section 140 of the German Criminal Code, i.e. has rewarded or approved of a crime which constitutes a terrorist act.

For more information, see Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community.