German opposition leader Friedrich Merz laid out proposals to clamp down on illegal migration on Thursday after an Afghan asylum seeker allegedly carried out a deadly knife attack on a group of pre-school children in Aschaffenburg.
"We are faced with the tatters of 10 years of misguided asylum and migration policy in Germany," Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats and the current frontrunner for chancellor in next month's election, told reporters.
He called for permanent controls at all German borders, a halt on all illegal entries to the country and the use of national law to step in for "dysfunctional" EU asylum law, as well as a push to make more facilities available to make room for migrant detention facilities.