Diversity makes Germany more “colorful,” said Sabine Sutterlin-Waack, minister of interior in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. “But those who disrespect our hospitality, I must clearly say, have no business here in Germany.”
The party that won Germany’s recent federal parliamentary election has vowed to introduce stricter immigration policies.
Sutterlin-Waack spoke with Rudaw’s Alla Shally at a celebration for Newroz, the Kurdish New Year.
“Kurds have adapted very well to Germany,” the German minister said, adding that it is her second time participating in a Newroz celebration.
On the situation in Syria, Sutterlin-Waack explained that more time is needed to assess whether the country is stable or not. She was cautious about backing the interim government in Damascus, saying that Germany should provide support in a way that “terrorism in Syria does not continue.”
“I think we should wait and see how the situation in Syria develops, whether peace really comes and the civil war really ends,” she said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was in Damascus on Thursday to re-open Berlin’s embassy, 13 years after it was closed.
Below is the full transcript of the interview:
Rudaw: Hello Ms. Sutterlin-Waack, thank you very much for being with us. Your Excellency, today, as the minister of interior of this region, you participated here in the celebration of Newroz, which is an important holiday for the Kurds and means resistance. You made a speech. What do you see as the importance of holding this celebration here?
Sutterlin-Waack: I think it is very important that we celebrate together here, because the Kurds have adapted very well to Germany, so it is important to celebrate some of their special identities here in Germany together. I am also happy to be able to participate in this celebration for the second time.
Ms. Sutterlin-Waack, I would like to ask you about the Kurds of Rojava [northeastern Syria]. A large number of Kurds live here who have been able to adapt well and work here, but at the same time there are many voices of politicians who say that now, after toppling [Bashar] al-Assad, they must return to their country. What do you say about this?
In my opinion, we have to wait a bit. We have now heard terrible news from Syria. At first, we all had great hope that the Assad regime would be gone. We still have great hope that peace will come, that the civil war will end, but unfortunately we have heard bad news in recent days. So I think we should wait and see how the situation in Syria develops, whether peace really comes and the civil war really ends. There are also many Syrians who have adapted very well here. We need many people who come from other countries and make our society colourful and live in diversity, because diversity helps us to move forward.
Well, Ms. Minister, now Germany and other European countries support the Syrian government, but that government does not give the Kurds their rights, what do you say about that?
I always say that one certainly supports someone who really works for peace and democracy, and we have to look at that carefully. As I said now, this is important to us and we must simply say that terrorism must end. I am also the minister of interior. I am responsible for internal security. In Germany, of course, we need to take a close look at who is coming to our country. And we need to know exactly who we are supporting, so that terrorism in Syria does not continue.
You mentioned terrorism. The Kurds in Syria fought very bravely against terrorism. Now there are no rights for the Kurds in the interim constitution of Syria. What is your position?
We in Germany have very strong protection for minorities, especially here in Schleswig-Holstein in the north. I come from a more northerly region than here in Kiel. We have very strong protection for the Danes living in Germany, and for the Germans living in Denmark. So we live among minorities and I think some countries can treat minorities a little more carefully. The Kurds are a component of Syria and I think that the new Syrian state, whatever it may be, hopefully peace and democracy, can consider minorities as well. This also has to do with diversity and they are part of the identity of the nation.
Okay, let me come back to Germany. The issue of migrant policy was a very hot topic during the election and now the future government has agreed on this issue. As minister of interior, is it so easy to deport those migrants who are from Afghanistan or Syria and commit crimes here?
My clear position, anyone who commits a crime here in Schleswig-Holstein must be expelled from Germany. This is not acceptable. Our people are afraid and this cannot be done and we do not want it either. This means that those who commit crimes must be expelled. This is very clear. Although this is not always easy, we both know that, but we must work on it. And those who have the right to stay can stay here because their lives are still in danger. I support the German asylum law, this must remain and we must take it into account. We want that. But those who disrespect our hospitality, I must clearly say, they have no business here in Germany. They must leave.
On the issue of migrant policy, one of the important points was border control. Is this now agreed upon in the negotiations? Will it be implemented?
This is difficult, but of course it can be done. It would be better if we controlled the external borders of Europe, because we have the Schengen Agreement, which we fought very hard for a long time so that we have no control within Europe, now it is in danger. But this is obviously difficult at the moment and that is why we in Germany control the borders. Although we will never be completely successful, because it is not so easy, we have to see who comes to Germany.
The stability of internal security is another important issue in Germany. How do you want or what is your plan to protect internal security at a time when, as you mentioned, people are afraid?
Internal security is now a very broad topic. At the conference of interior ministers, we are always busy with that. We must know that those who adapt themselves to us, can stay here according to German law. I am a lawyer, I am bound by all German laws. They must adapt themselves here. We must help them in that, this is natural. We also need people to work for us. We just talked about the young man you mentioned. We need people to work here. Our numbers are constantly decreasing and we are constantly getting older and we need diversity. But as I said, those who commit crimes, who have committed crimes, must leave Germany. I strongly believe in that.
So you want to focus on the arrival of immigrants through legal channels?
Legal immigration, of course. We need to think carefully about this again, whether it can be done through asylum or through work. There are some overlaps there that I would like. If we have people who can live well and work well here, then we must try to keep them here. There are so many decent, friendly and skilled people coming to us from other countries, and we have to be careful about them, but as I said, I have said it many times now, those who commit crimes have no business with us.
My last question to you, madam minister of interior, the [far-right Alternative for Germany] AfD party has doubled its votes. How dangerous do you see this?
I see this as a great danger and it is very disturbing. Fortunately, the AfD party is not in the Schleswig-Holstein parliament. The AfD is not in the state parliament. In the last state parliamentary election, we were able to remove them. They were there before, but now they are gone. And of course it is disturbing, but every voter who votes for that party is certainly not a Nazi. That is true. But some of their voters might be Nazis. And how one cannot forget Germany's past. I was just at the memorial site at the very end. I can say, how can you forget what happened and deny it and also say it's not all true. This is incomprehensible to me and this is what worries me a lot, because they want to completely change our state system. And they want to change our democracy. They want to change freedom of opinion. Everything that is very important to us, which has been with us for 75 - 80 years in Germany, as well as in Schleswig-Holstein, that must be changed and we must resist it with all our might.
