exclusive
What is behind the clan fights in North Rhine-Westphalia? After contrasts-Research leads to traces of a tribe from north-eastern Syria. Relatives are also said to have established criminal structures in Germany.
A wedding hall in a small industrial park in Duisburg: heads of Syrian tribes and members of Lebanese-Turkish clans met here last Thursday. They came from all over Germany. The men – women are not among them – meet for “peace negotiations”.
This was preceded by mass brawls and fights with knives and machetes in mid-June, first in Castrop-Rauxel and then in Essen. Balance of the clash: at least a dozen injured, including a critically injured Syrian who had to be operated on, and seven injured police officers.
The ARD political magazine contrasts was exclusively at the convened peace summit in Duisburg. In front of the camera, those involved were emphatically law-abiding. “We apologize to the German police,” said Nihat G., who spoke for the Lebanese side. “Hopefully these problems won’t happen again.”
peace agreement “just show”
G. himself was in the front row during the clashes – this is documented by video recordings. G. also has an Arabic name: Al-Zein. He belongs to a widespread extended family, which is known in Germany above all in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. Individual relatives were repeatedly convicted of serious crimes.
The migration researcher and expert on clan crime Ralph Ghadban doesn’t trust the love of peace expressed in Duisburg: “I see the whole thing as a show to calm the authorities down. The conflict can break out again at any time.”
Trigger: a family dispute
But what is behind this conflict? The concrete trigger was probably a neighborhood dispute. contrasts managed to speak to the families involved. The Omars are from Syria. Until a few days ago, they lived in the same house in Castrop-Rauxel as the O family. They, in turn, have Turkish-Lebanese roots.
Her surname is notorious in North Rhine-Westphalia: In the police’s current situation report on clan crime, it occupies a top position. No other clan name is attributed to so many offenders and crimes. In order to appear in the statistics, however, a “clan-relevant family name” of the offender is enough – no distinction is made according to the offence. Across from contrasts says the O. family that they have nothing to do with criminal clans, but does not want to comment further.
According to the Syrian family, children clashed first, then the dispute escalated. “13 men came and hit my father directly, really hard in the head,” says a daughter of the Syrian Omar family. We meet them at a place that has to remain secret, the family has left Castrop-Rauxel out of fear. Her father loses a tooth in the fight, and the daughter is also injured: videos taken immediately after the crime show her with a large laceration across her forehead.
It is these images that spread across the Internet and have an impact as far away as the Middle East. On Tiktok, a man dressed as a sheik calls for vigilante justice: “Allah says in the Koran: Attack those who attack you as hard as they attacked you.”
The man apparently belongs to the Al-Busarayah tribe – just like the Omar family. The tribe originally comes from the nomadic north-east of Syria. However, fleeing the Syrian civil war has brought many relatives to Germany – and with them tribal thinking: “After they arrived in Germany, some Syrians from the north-east started to build parallel structures to the German state. All disputes should be resolved internally. ” A Syrian-born analyst agrees contrastswho works for various federal agencies and wishes to remain anonymous.
Involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering
According to him, there are indications that some members of Al-Busarayah are involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. A significant source of income is said to be the smuggling of people to Europe. These services are openly offered in videos on the Internet.
With the advance of the Syrians, the previously dominant criminal structures came under pressure, says Ralf Ghadban: “It took the Lebanese clans decades to build up their network. The Syrians benefited from this experience and jumped in immediately. They are supplanting the Lebanese in the drugs sector and smuggling services.”
“It’s about millions”
This rivalry is also the real reason why a neighborhood dispute could escalate to such an extent. Arriving Syrians attacked suspected members of Turkish-Lebanese clans in Castrop-Rauxel, shouting Al-Busarayah. Dozens of them then stormed a popular Syrian restaurant in Essen and distributed videos of it online – a demonstration of power. “There are millions at stake behind the scenes,” says Ghadban.
There is also a further, political level of the conflict, which the Islamic scholar Ahmad A. Omeirate points out. Many of the Syrians who fled to Germany are opposed to the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. “With Hezbollah, however, a Lebanese-Iranian militia is on the side of the dictator Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian war.”
An enmity that also plays a role, according to the already mentioned Syrian-born analyst. According to his information, Hezbollah supporters were among the attackers in Essen. He suspects that the Assad regime specifically wants to involve Syrian refugees in conflicts. “In German society, this is intended to provoke demands for deportations. But if you want to be deported to Syria, you have to accept Assad as a negotiating partner.”
German politicians are alarmed
A mixed situation that is causing increasing concern for politicians. The North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul (CDU), has committed himself to fighting clan crime. Across from contrasts he now speaks of a “challenge that the Syrians may no longer want to be just henchmen, but rather build their own structures.”
Developments are also being closely monitored in Berlin. So far, the authorities have contrasts-Information here but still no information about distinct criminal structures among Syrians. The new justice senator Felor Badenberg (non-party) relies on a more comprehensive skimming of illegally acquired assets in the fight against clan crime.
In the responsible public prosecutor’s offices, the staff should now be “increased many times over”, as she says contrasts said. She had agreed with the Governing Mayor Kai Wegener (CDU) that part of the siphoned off funds would flow directly back into the judiciary. The idea behind it: criminally acquired clan money should be used to fight clan crime