Islamist is allowed to stay in Germany
He can stay – for the time being: The administrative court in Hanover has stopped the immediate expulsion of a Tunisian. The man was associated with the now-closed mosque of the German-speaking Islam Group (DIK) Hildesheim, where the well-known hate preacher Abu Walaa held the reins for years.
The Tunisian has a so-called “settlement permit” and thus, according to the administrative court, an unlimited right of residence in Germany. He has therefore been legally in the Federal Republic since 2001. “In 2018 he applied for naturalization,” says court spokeswoman Nassim Eslami. However, he did not get the German passport.
Naturalization denied, deportation ordered
His naturalization in the Federal Republic was rejected in 2020. A lawsuit against it was unsuccessful. Subsequently, the immigration authorities of the state capital Hanover ordered the immediate expulsion of the Tunisian from Germany.
The authorities accuse the man of having been active in the vicinity of extremist Salafist mosques for many years and of having supported them. He also gave several sermons at DIK Hildesheim. The association, which hate preacher Abu Walaa made the number one Salafist hotspot in Germany, was banned and dissolved in 2017 by the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior.
More support for “terrorist association”?
The immediate expulsion by the immigration authorities in Hanover would mean that the Tunisian would have to leave the country immediately, despite having a “settlement permit”. The 5th Chamber of the Administrative Court has now decided at the man’s request that an early termination of his stay during the court proceedings is not justified – and that, although there are “weighty indications” that the Tunisian continues to support the “banned terrorist association”.
The immigration authorities in Hanover finally extended the residence permit of the man, who is the father of two German children, and even gave him a settlement permit, despite his activities in the vicinity of the closed mosque in Hildesheim. He therefore has an unlimited right of residence in the Federal Republic.
This decision can be appealed to the Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg.
By Britta Mahrholz