German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has spoken out in favour of deporting suspected terrorists and dangerous individuals who have immigrated to the country.
Habeck, a member of the Green Party, said that anyone convicted of a serious crime such as murder should not enjoy a right to asylum in Germany even as they trample the country's laws and order.
That could mean sending people back to countries considered unsafe, even if they potentially faced persecution there.
"In plain language, this means that I think that someone like the perpetrator of the police murder must be convicted, must serve his sentence and can then be deported and should be deported," Habeck said.
Those remarks refer to a recent violent attack in the German city of Mannheim, where a knife-wielding migrant killed a policeman.
Habeck noted that the Interior Ministry was looking closely at what is possible with regard to the deportation of serious criminals.
Interior ministers from all 16 German states are meeting near Berlin on Wednesday to discuss immigration policy, including controversial proposals to allow deportations of serious criminals and people deemed Islamist extremists to countries including Syria and Afghanistan.
