Burka ban to be proposed in Germany
Germany's interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, is expected to announce new anti-terror measures in the wake of two attacks by migrants in the country. According to local media and the tabloid, Bild, the measures may include imposing a burka ban, speeding up the expulsion process for asylum seekers convicted of crimes, dropping dual nationality for German citizens, and boosting police presence on trains, in railway stations, and at airports.

GERMANY’S INTERIOR MINISTER Thomas de Maiziere is preparing to unveil a slew of new anti-terror measures after two attacks in the country were claimed by the so-called Islamic State group.

The new measures are due to be announced tomorrow.

According to local media, including the Bild newspaper, they include speeding up the expulsion process for asylum seekers convicted of crimes, imposing a burqa ban, scrapping the possibility of dual nationalities for German citizens and boosting the presence of police on trains, as well as at railway stations and airports.

The minister is also reportedly planning to make being a “threat to public security” grounds for deporting migrants.

Doctors will also have their strict confidentiality obligations lifted in special cases that would allow them to inform authorities should their patient be a potential threat to the population, the Bild reported.

The tougher stance comes after the two attacks by migrants in the southern state of Bavaria — an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach.

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In Wuerzburg, the 17-year-old attacker was shot dead by police after injuring five people. In Ansbach, 15 people were injured after a failed Syrian asylum seeker detonated an explosive device outside a music festival, killing himself.

15,000 police officers

De Maiziere is also expected to sign off next week on a declaration with regional interior ministers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and sister party Christian Social Union that calls for further security and anti-terror measures, according to the RND media group, which publishes more than 30 regional dailies.

The declaration also calls for the recruitment of 15,000 police officers by 2020 and for measures to halt the financing of mosques by extremist organisations. It also urges the expulsion of foreign religious leaders who preach hate.

Meanwhile, German police today raided apartments and workplaces of three men suspected of recruiting members for the Islamic State organisation, federal prosecutors said.

No arrests were made in the raids in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the northern state of Lower Saxony.

Separately, German special forces have arrested a Syrian suspected of being a member of the IS group, local authorities said yesterday, citing a threat to the opening game of the upcoming Bundesliga football championships.

- © AFP 2016