The Munich shooting rampage

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the shooting rampage carried out in Munich, Germany that left at least nine people dead and several wounded before the lone gunman, an 18-years-old German-Iranian apparently killed himself. While the authorities said it was too early to say if it was a terrorist attack, the fact remains that it was the third attack on civilians in Western Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by IS. Our condolences and prayers are with the innocent people who lost their lives in the cowardly, mindless acts of violence.

Whatever the motive of the gunman, such attacks will accomplish nothing except fuel the anti-immigrant, xenophobic forces across Europe, jeopardising the  condition of the million-plus refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan who were accepted by Germany last year. The masterminds of these attacks have probably forgotten that Germany is a country that vehemently opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has been the most welcoming to refugees. In order to make integration easier for the newly-arrived, the country went as far as suspending a law requiring employers to give preference to German or EU job applicants over asylum seekers for three years.

It is a time to mourn. But it is also to time to stay focused. Most of the refugees are hard-working, law-abiding people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.  Such isolated attacks should not be used as an excuse to crack down on immigrants. It is a law enforcement issue, not an immigration one, and Germany would do well to treat it as such.