Church standoff: Barricaded refugee family sparks tense police operation in Schwerin, Germany
"Bild" reported that on Wednesday morning, officials intended to take two migrants, aged 18 and 22, to the deportation jail. They were to be eventually repatriated to their home country. However, things didn't go as planned, according to police spokeswoman, Juliane Zgonine. A female Afghani migrant, fearful for her family's pending deportation, barricaded herself along with her six-family members in a church community apartment. The woman's threats towards officials escalated the situation to be highly perilous.
12:35 PM EST, December 21, 2023
Due to the incident, police forces were dispatched to the church area and residents were advised to stay clear. In addition, an armed special unit and a negotiation team were sent to the scene.
After attempting to communicate with the family for four hours, emergency services finally broke into the apartment. Once inside, it was found that one of the young men was injured and the woman was in a disturbing mental state.
The injured man and the woman were immediately taken to hospital by an ambulance that had been waiting at the scene. No further information was disclosed about the man's injuries. The remaining four family members, including two children, were left in the building for the time being.
The two young men were ordered to be deported by the immigration authorities in Kiel. They were supposedly scheduled to be transported to Spain. The family had been residing in an apartment on the outskirts of a prefabricated housing estate in Schwerin, furnished by the local parish to accommodate refugees, a church spokesperson disclosed.
