Overview

• Hans‑Eckhard Sommer told the NRW parliamentary inquiry that the state’s allocation of asylum and residency responsibilities leaves it “not able to speak” on the topic at the Interior Ministers’ Conference.
• He contrasted NRW’s use of administrative staff for removals with most states’ reliance on police and suggested involving police after a failed 2023 attempt to transfer suspect Issa al H. to Bulgaria.
• Sommer said it is too easy to evade removal appointments that require weeks of preparation and are rarely reattempted, while EU rules often bar detention and do not require constant presence in accommodation.
• After his initial critique, he noted NRW leads Germany in deportations and praised the Zentrale Ausländerbehörde in Bielefeld as well equipped.
• The remarks intensified calls from the SPD for Minister Josefine Paul to testify, as the Solingen attack trial in Düsseldorf nears a verdict expected next Wednesday.