New questions have arisen about the nationality of Brokstedt’s alleged perpetrator. According to earlier information, Ibrahim A. is a stateless Palestinian. However, there was no formal determination of statelessness by the authorities.

That said on Wednesday a spokesman for the Ministry of Integration in Kiel. shz.de had previously reported. Born in Gaza, Ibrahim A. traveled to Germany on December 24, 2014, according to a biographical overview from the city of Kiel. The case should also be the subject of a meeting of the state parliament’s interior and legal committee on Wednesday (2 p.m.).

He was granted so-called subsidiary protection status. That means the man could come up with reasons why he shouldn’t be deported. In 2021, proceedings to withdraw subsidiary protection were initiated against him. How this turned out was initially unclear.

According to Schleswig-Holstein’s Integration Minister Aminata Touré (Greens), the Kiel immigration office may still be responsible today. She understands that many people wondered whether revoking protection status could have prevented the crime. “One can only speculate in this area at the moment.”

According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, no decision has yet been taken on withdrawing the so-called subsidiary protection status for Brokstedt’s alleged perpetrator. The reason given by a department head on Wednesday before the interior and legal committee of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament was that it was not possible to give Ibrahim A. a legal hearing because he did not have a permanent address. He did not respond to mail to a stored address.

If the authority had known about the pre-trial detention in Hamburg, it would have been easy, said the department head. The exchange with the foreigners authority in Kiel did not result in any corresponding information either. Now, after the arrest of Ibrahim A. after the deadly knife attack in a regional train from Kiel to Hamburg, a legal hearing can be granted. Then it is likely that the protection status will be revoked.

The withdrawal procedure was initiated in autumn 2021. The citizenship of the Palestinian is unclear. When he entered Germany in 2014, the man described himself as a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip and stateless.

In the attack on the regional train on January 25, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old were killed. Five people were injured. An arrest warrant was issued against the alleged perpetrator Ibrahim A. for two counts of murder and four counts of attempted manslaughter.