Refugees who holiday in homeland to be stripped of asylum in Germany

Stricter policies on immigration announced after ISIS-inspired Solingen knife attack

Mourners at the Brandenburg Gate commemorate victims of the ISIS-inspired knife attack in Solingen, which has sparked demands to the German government for a tougher immigration policy. EPA

Germany announced on Thursday that refugees who return to their home countries on holiday will be stripped of asylum status.

The only exception will be for "absolutely urgent" return trips such as the funeral of a close relative, ministers said.

Asylum seekers will also have benefits withheld if they come to Germany from another European country that can handle their case.

Ministers are working "at full speed" to open up deportations to Syria and Afghanistan, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

It is part of a package of stricter policies on migration, Islamism and knife crime after an ISIS-inspired attack killed three people in Solingen.

The suspected knifeman is a Syrian asylum seeker who had evaded attempts to have him deported to Bulgaria.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is under massive pressure to get tough as the far right seeks historic wins at two regional elections on Sunday.

The new measures were unveiled on Thursday after days of fractious cross-party talks and protests for and against deportations.

"The whole process of migration policy, especially the deportation of people with no right to stay, must be screened and made more effective," German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said.

Holiday ban

Mr Buschmann said people who "come to us because they say it's too dangerous in their home country" would not be allowed to return there without "absolutely urgent reasons".

"Anyone who simply takes a holiday to a home country where they'd previously told us they cannot safely stay is contradicting themselves and must lose their protection status," he said.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had criticised the government over reports of Afghan asylum seekers returning home on holiday.

Officials have not denied that some such trips have taken place. Thousands of Afghans have been given blue refugee documents that allow for foreign travel.

No deportations to Afghanistan or Syria have taken place for years because they were deemed too dangerous but ministers want to find ways to deport convicted criminals.

A German court last month rejected a Syrian man's protection claim on the grounds that neither Damascus nor his home region of Hasakah were sufficiently dangerous.

As part of the crackdown there will be tougher criteria for asylum claims to stop people with Islamist leanings slipping through.

A particular focus is the so-called Dublin procedure of returning asylum seekers to the first EU country where they lodged a claim.

The Syrian suspect in Solingen had filed a claim in Bulgaria but managed to avoid being sent back there once he reached Germany.

Under the new measures, asylum seekers in Dublin cases will be blocked from claiming benefits if other European countries are willing to receive them.

Police will meanwhile gain powers to gather biometric data from people's social media accounts to use in facial recognition.

Law enforcement will be allowed to use AI to analyse online material as part of a drive to stop online radicalisation.

Also proposed are stricter gun ownership rules and a ban on bringing knives to public gatherings such as folk festivals, sporting events and trade fairs.