Leipzig: Head of Syrian clan with 32 children receives 2.4 million crowns in benefits annually

Authorities in Leipzig, Germany, are sounding the alarm over a Syrian family whose patriarch, married to three women under Islamic law, has at least 32 children and 25 grandchildren. According to Saxony's Interior Ministry, cited by the German tabloid Bild, the annual child benefits paid out for this many offspring amount to nearly €100,000 — roughly 2.4 million crowns.

Even accounting for the fact that five of the children are now adults, the remaining 27 minors still bring in around €84,000 (about 2 million crowns) a year, the outlet calculated. The state criminal police have taken particular interest in the family: two-thirds of its members already have criminal records.

A criminal trail led by the eldest sons

The identity of the clan's patriarch remains undisclosed for privacy reasons, so most details concern his three adult sons. The best known is 21-year-old Bilal A., nicknamed "King Bilal" for his graffiti tags. Driving without a license, he plowed a powerful Mercedes into a group of people near Eilenburg, Saxony, in March 2023, killing four. He walked away unharmed and fled the scene.

Police eventually tracked him down, and a juvenile court sentenced him to three and a half years in prison. Bilal appealed the verdict, got behind the wheel again, and was caught a second time. He also faces charges of drug trafficking, making threats and property damage. Jan Siebenhüner, a lawyer representing the victims' families, said the convicted man "has never shown any remorse."

Bilal's older brothers, Mohamed and Rami, have likewise repeatedly appeared in court records. Mohamed took part in an assault on a tram passenger and, in 2022, was arranging a deal involving nearly five kilograms of methamphetamine, for which he received four and a half years in prison. Rami has been accused of violent crimes and drug dealing, as well as illegally claiming welfare benefits while simultaneously working at the family-run "Golden Lion" bar, which was later shut down following an anti-drug raid.

How to dodge deportation

According to lawyer Siebenhüner, clan members shield themselves from expulsion in two ways: by obtaining German citizenship or by having children. "Article Six of the family protection law is a very sharp weapon," the lawyer noted, explaining that once a family has children it cannot be split up, and minors cannot be deported under any circumstances.

Bilal A. arrived in Germany as a minor in 2015 — the very year Chancellor Angela Merkel uttered her famous phrase "We can manage this" amid the wave of migration. He joined his father, who had fled to Germany earlier. In 2017, Bilal was granted refugee status, and despite his recent detention, his protected status remains in effect until the appeals process concludes, according to Mandy Peschang, a spokesperson for the state migration office.

Bild also notes that many cases against clan members were dropped because witnesses failed to appear in court, while some offenses were never investigated separately whenever the suspects already faced harsher penalties under other charges — such as drug trafficking. Dennis Radtke, a European Parliament member from the ruling CDU party, called the situation unacceptable, saying the rule of law "keeps breaking its teeth" on such cases — partly due to court rulings themselves.

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Source: novinky.cz