A criminal migrant from Lebanon was imprisoned after a string of larcenies and then deported. Now he has returned to the country and applied for asylum. The authorities haven’t ruled out the possibility of his asylum application being approved.
Seems reasonable, right?
Right?
Well, apparently it does, if you’re German.
Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from the online news portal Nius. The translator’s comments are in square brackets:
7 months after his deportation, clan criminal Khalil El Zein returns to Germany — and applies for asylum
It is a story that once again demonstrates the state’s failure in migration and asylum policy. Khalil El Zein, a former suspect in the spectacular KaDeWe robbery, who was also convicted of fraud and deported to Lebanon in the spring, has returned to Germany — and is demanding protection. As Bild exclusively reports, El Zein is said to have reported to the arrival center for refugees in Berlin-Tegel and applied for asylum.
It is unclear how the 35-year-old Lebanese was able to return to Germany. What is certain, however, is that he submitted his asylum application to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and was arrested immediately after the hearing. The reason: “additional preparatory detention,” as the authorities call it. The man was released a short time later because, according to the court, the detention was “no longer necessary to prepare for the threat of deportation,” according to BILD. [Whatever they mean by this legalese.]
Khalil El Zein, also known by the spelling Al Zein, belongs to one of the most notorious Arab extended families in Germany. Several members of the El Zein clan have been under police and judicial surveillance for decades for serious crimes. Khalil, who has re-entered the country, was one of five suspects in the KaDeWe robbery until 2016, in which masked men stole jewelry worth over €800,000. Although an accomplice incriminated him, Khalil was acquitted before the key witness could testify. [And did this witness have had an unfortunate event before the end of his or her life? Just curious.]
In 2019, he was arrested for defrauding an elderly woman after he and his accomplices posed as detectives and stole cash and jewelry worth tens of thousands of euros. For these and other crimes, Khalil El Zein was sentenced to prison and eventually deported to Lebanon.
Previous deportation “in principle does not preclude” the possibility of asylum
The renewed arrival of the well-known clan member caused a stir among the authorities. The Berlin Senate Interior Administration stated: “Prior deportation does not, in principle, preclude the possibility of applying for asylum.” Each case is examined individually, according to official sources. At the same time, however, a spokeswoman emphasized that “criminal charges could lead to exclusion from refugee protection.”
The question of whether El Zein could be deported again remains open. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said: “There is currently no indication that deportations to Lebanon are not possible due to the situation there.”
Let’s see where Khalil El Zein is in seven months. [Most likely, through the courtesy of the German taxpayer, in a luxury penthouse-suit in Berlin, planning his next heist.]
Afterword from the translator:
When I think that the South African wife of a friend of mine from Germany had been deported to South Africa back in 2012, after having lived in Germany for more than ten years, and just because of some cock-up at Home Affairs, and then she wasn’t allowed to re-enter Germany afterwards…
So, I’m not surprised that criminals are getting the red carpet treatment in that lunatic asylum, run by the criminally insane, instead.
My friend and their kids all moved to South Africa in 2013 and haven’t looked back.