Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Syrian refugees in Germany must go home now that their country’s war is over or face deportation.
In his latest hardline comments on migration, Merz said yesterday there was “no longer any reason” for Syrians who fled their country’s brutal 13-year war to seek asylum in Germany, AFP reported.
“For those who refuse to return to their country, we can of course expel them,” he said during a visit to Husum, in northern Germany.
“We will, of course, continue to deport criminals to Syria. That is the plan. We will now implement this in a very concrete manner,” Merz told reporters, according to The Jerusalem Post.
That was despite German foreign minister Johann Wadephul having said on October 31 on a trip to Damascus that the potential for Syrians to return was “very limited” since the war had destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure.
During his inaugural trip to Syria, Wadephul said he was struck by the devastation that was still visible in the capital a year after the fall of long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad.
“It is barely possible for people to live here with dignity,” the minister said while visiting the neighbourhood of Harasta, Yahoo News reported.
“In the near future, [Syrian refugees] cannot return,” he said.
That statement caused a backlash from Merz’s and Wadephul’s Conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has been struggling to avoid being outflanked by right-wing parties on the explosive issue of migration.
Merz said he had invited Syria’s new interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year, to visit Germany to discuss an acceptable resolution.
Al-Sharaa led a rebel alliance that ousted al-Assad in December after the brutal civil war.
A former Islamist, he has sought to present a moderate image and vowed to respect the rights of all of Syrian society, including women and minorities.
Syria “needs all its strength, and above all Syrians, to rebuild”, Merz said, adding he was confident many would return of their own accord.
Germany wants to help stabilise the country, he said, adding that he intends to discuss with al-Sharaa “how we can solve this together”, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Around 1 million Syrians live in Germany, most having fled the war in a mass exodus in 2015 and 2016, according to AFP.
