Merz wants to get rid of the Syrian refugees
The foreign minister defends the deportations following the fall of Al Assad, despite the potential damage to the economy.
BerlinAlmost a year after the fall of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-AssadGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz has encouraged Syrian refugees living in Germany to return to their country and warned that those who do not will be deported. "The civil war in Syria is over; there are no longer any grounds for seeking asylum in Germany," Merz said this week. "Of course, in the future we will also be able to deport those who refuse to return to their country once they are already in Germany," the chancellor warned.
Merz was responding to the controversy sparked in the country by statements made by his Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul. The foreign minister had expressed his doubts during a recent trip to Damascus that many Syrian refugees would want to return to their country soon, given the level of destruction he witnessed firsthand. "Here, almost no one can live with dignity," Wadephul acknowledged during a visit to Harasta, a suburb of the capital severely devastated by the civil war.
The German foreign minister's statements provoked unease and criticism within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Merz, Angela Merkel, and Wadephul himself. The minister was also criticized by the far-right leader, Alice Weidel. His assertions, that Syrians "cannot be expected" to return to their country, are "a slap in the face to the victims of Islamist violence in Germany", according to the far-right leader.
Ten years later of the 2015 refugee crisisThe debate over Syrian refugees has reopened in Germany: who can stay and who must leave? The Chancellor has invited Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Germany to "resolve together" the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland. Appointed interim president at the end of January, al-Sharaa has promoted an opening of the country and a rapprochement with the West, while also maintaining relations with Moscow.
Skepticism about the measure
Merz's call to return to Syria will likely fall on deaf ears within the Syrian community in Germany. "I don't think many Syrians will return home voluntarily," Usahma Felix Darrah, director of the Berlin-based NGO Friends of the Syrian People, explained to ARA. "Even if they may be legally obligated, many have built new lives in this country," Darrah noted. "If you have a family or a job [in Germany], why would you give up your job, your career—the first time you've actually earned a decent living—or take your children out of school to return to a country that is violent, lacks infrastructure, and has only sporadic electricity? Think about it," the director of the Berlin NGO urged.
Most Syrians arrived in Germany during the 2015 refugee crisis. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, a conservative, opened Germany's doors between 2015 and 2016 to 1.2 million asylum seekers, the majority of whom were Syrian. Her critics consider this humanitarian gesture contributed to the rise of the far right in the country
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates that between January and September of this year, one million Syrians have returned to their country from their host countries. But while those who had settled in Arab countries are returning to Syria in large numbers, those living in Germany are doing so in small numbers. Syrians are the third largest foreign group in Germany, after Turks and Ukrainians. In August 2025, the number of registered Syrians was 951,406, according to the Interior Ministry. At the end of 2024, there were 975,060, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Tens of thousands of Syrians have obtained German passports after five years of residency, so it is very likely that they will stay given the uncertain future that awaits them. In 2024, 83,183 Syrians obtained German passports, according to official figures.
And although Merz's pressure is evident, the departure of Syrian refugees could have serious consequences for some sectors of the country's economy. For example, hospitals and clinics fear the departure of 6,000 doctors and 2,000 pharmacists. However, this figure does not include those with citizenship, meaning the number is higher: around 10,000 doctors and 3,000 pharmacists.
