German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Monday to speed up deportations and pursue more stringent regulation on knife access following a terror attack that took place Friday in the German city of Solingen, killing 3 and wounding 8. Speaking to reporters, Scholz said Germany had to ensure that such attacks never happened again, and promised to promote the effective deportation of migrants in the country illegally.  

The attack took place during a festival commemorating the 650th anniversary of Solingen. The perpetrator was identified as Issa Al-H, a 26-year-old Syrian refugee whose last name was not revealed in compliance with German privacy laws. The perpetrator previously had a deportation order placed upon him, but the order failed in execution, according to local media, due to his disappearance after the order was imposed.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faesar had previously advocated reducing the maximum allowable length for publicly carried knives from 12 centimeters to 6. She has also proposed increasing the number of knife-free zones throughout the country.

In light of recent attacks and increasing frustration about German immigration policy, German opposition parties have increasingly called for limits upon migration and more efficient execution of deportations. Friedrich Metz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, the main opposition party in Germany, called for a total freeze on the admissions of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan into Germany.