As pressure from the right grows, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that it is time for hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have sought refuge in Germany from the war to go home because the war is over, writes Politico.
The reality, however, is that Merz will have a hard time getting a large portion of the nearly one million Syrians living in Germany to leave. However, pressure from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is gaining popularity, has forced the chancellor to take a tougher stance. The AfD has promised to deport Syrians en masse. Merz has indicated that he will work with the new Syrian President, Ahmed al-Shara, to ensure the return of war refugees to Syria.
Merz said the war in Syria was over and there was no longer any reason to seek asylum in Germany, meaning repatriation could begin. The chancellor’s comments reflect his efforts to push conservatives to the right on migration issues. The strategy so far appears to have failed, and the AfD is gaining ground in Germany, even ahead of Merck’s party in polls.
The German chancellor appears to be working to reverse the migration policies introduced by his predecessor, Angela Merkel, which allowed large numbers of asylum seekers to flood into Germany, particularly during the 2015 migration crisis. Merz has blamed Merkel’s policies for the fact that the radical AfD is now increasingly close to taking power in the country. In the summer, the chancellor said the conservatives were trying to correct Merkel’s mistakes. The pledge to repatriate Syrians is the most direct move in that direction yet.
On the 3rd of November, Merz announced that he had invited al-Shaar to Berlin
to discuss the deportation of convicted Syrians. He also said that Syrians living in Germany have a duty to return home to help rebuild the war-torn country, and those who do not will be forcibly deported.
The reality will be more complicated. A large number of Syrians who have arrived in Germany have found work and become German citizens. In 2024, about 287,000 Syrians were officially working in Germany, and about 83,000 have obtained German citizenship. Despite his harsh words, Merz has indicated that, at least for now, only asylum seekers who have committed crimes will be forcibly deported. A key part of his government’s strategy will be to encourage the rest to leave voluntarily. However, the government may have to use a model similar to that used in the 1990s, when around 320,000 Bosnians arrived in Germany. Over the next decade, most of them repatriated.
Experts have pointed out that the situation in Syria is not stable and safe enough to allow the return of millions of refugees who fled the country during the war. This was also discussed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul during a visit to Damascus in late October. He said that he had never seen such destruction in person, and that
it is difficult to live in decent conditions there.
Wadephul’s statements have drawn criticism from both the conservative and right-wing. Some have pointed out that the Germans rebuilt their cities after World War II, and that the Syrians should do the same.
It seems that the right-wing debate over Vaudeful’s remarks has also led Merz to take a stand against his own foreign minister and speak more strongly about repatriation. However, how far the government will go is still a debatable question, given that the coalition also includes the center-left Social Democrats, which advocates a softer approach.
For Merz, this situation is much more complicated than for the AfD, which, in opposition, can take a radical position and blame Syrians for the drain of German taxpayers’ money, while also pointing out that the coalition is responsible for this.
Read also: Migration crisis: How Europe went from Merkel’s “We can do it” to closed doors