The German government has begun the process of lifting the protection status for some Syrian refugees with the aim of returning them to their homeland now that the civil war has ended.
Germany has long been one of the top destinations for Syrian asylum seekers after civil war broke out in 2011. This was ramped up during the 2015 Europe Migrant Crisis when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the gates of the EU, allowing in around a million migrants into Germany, including hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
Now, with the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus and the recent election of Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Germany finally appears set to begin the process of returning at least some Syrians home.
According to broadcaster NTV, this will start with Syrians convicted of crimes, with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) being ordered to “start revocation activities” for criminals from Syria.
Previously, even criminal migrants from Syria were allowed to remain in Germany as Berlin had determined that their homeland was not safe for them to return to.
However, others have argued that the government needs to go further, with the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party saying that previous refugees must also be returned home, not just criminals.
AfD MP Gottfried Curio said: “After more than half a year has passed since the fall of the Assad regime, a new government has been established and the fighting has essentially ended. It is time for the federal government to also take these new realities into account in its asylum policy.”
This sentiment was echoed by CDU parliamentarian Alexander Throm, who added: “In recent years, Germany has given hundreds of thousands of Syrians protection from a civil war that is now over.”
“It is fair and, by the way, provided for in international refugee protection in such a way that those seeking protection return to their homeland when the dangers end.”
Alternatively, politicians from the far-left Greens and Marxist Die Linke parties criticised the plans to begin removals, arguing that the government should focus on speeding up the process to hand out citizenship to Syrians.
The issue of hosting nearly a million Syrians has become increasingly controversial in Germany, particularly in light of several high-profile terrorist attacks over the past year at the hands of Syrian asylum seekers, including an attack last August during a “festival of diversity” in the city of Solingen that saw three people stabbed to death and a further six injured.
Just last week, another Syrian was arrested after allegedly injuring four people in an axe attack on a high-speed train from Hamburg to Vienna, Austria.
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