A 19-year-old German was stabbed at random on a tram in the city of Cottbus by a Pakistani migrant who later told officials he stabbed him to stay in the country.
The attack took place in the early hours last week as the victim, Ralph P., was heading to vocational school where he was training as an electrician.
The attacker, 28-year-old Abdulsalam R., got on the tram at the Gelsenkirchener Strasse stop and almost immediately stabbed the teen in the back with a kitchen knife.
According to a report from tabloid BZ, the Pakistani migrant ran through the train and got off at the stop on Thierbacher Strasse, leaving the kitchen knife in the back of his victim.
The teen was quickly taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. His situation stabilised and improved later that same day, and he is expected to make a recovery.
Police tracked down the Pakistani migrant nine hours after the attack and arrested him in his home. While in custody, the 28-year-old said he did not know the victim and that he wanted to injure or kill someone to avoid deportation as his residency had recently expired.
Abdulsalam R. was already known to police and had a history of criminality, including uttering threats, serious bodily harm, and burglary. He is set to be charged with attempted murder and could be jailed for up to 15 years.
The incident is just the latest in a number 0f incidents in which migrants have claimed to have committed criminal acts or even admitted to being a member of terrorist groups to avoid deportation.
In 2018, the public prosecutors’ offices in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe claimed that in the first three months of that year alone at least 300 migrants had come forward claiming to be members of terrorist groups, many to avoid deportation.
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