Friedrich Merz says Syrians no longer have reason for asylum in Germany

Syrians no longer have reason to be granted asylum in Germany after the end of their country’s civil war, according to Friedrich Merz, who said they will instead be encouraged to return to help with the reconstruction of their homeland.

During Syria’s 14-year civil war, Germany took in more refugees than any other country in the EU, but the chancellor and others in his coalition cabinet argue that the situation has changed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government 11 months ago.

Merz said late on Tuesday that he expected many of the more than 1 million Syrians living in Germany would voluntarily return home.

“There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, and therefore we can also begin with repatriations,” he said. Those who refused to return could face deportation “in the near future”.

He appeared to contradict his foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, who after a visit to Damascus last week expressed doubt that many Syrians would choose to return given the devastation and ongoing instability, which he said made a dignified existence hard to imagine.

Wadephul had previously taken a tougher stance, supporting the government’s line as it seeks to stave off the rise of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

His apparent rethink drew criticism from some of his colleagues in the Christian Democratic Union, some of whom said he was discouraging the return of those who would be needed to rebuild their country.

What few politicians want to touch on is the effect deportations might have on Germany, where hundreds of thousands of Syrians have integrated successfully, learning the language and joining the workforce – which is crying out for recruits at a time when the German population is rapidly ageing.

More than 7,000 Syrian doctors are employed in the health sector, often in rural regions that have been poorly served in recent decades.

Many of the 1.3 million Syrians living in Germany, almost a quarter of whom were born in their adopted home, have obtained citizenship, though the majority only hold temporary residence permits.

Only about 1,000 Syrians returned to their homeland with the help of federal aid in the first half of this year.

The issue has taken on growing significance given that five state elections are scheduled to take place next year in which AfD is in tough competition with the Christian Democrats and could secure state leadership posts for the first time.

The latest row over the fate of the refugees coincides with the arrest in Berlin at the weekend of a 22-year-old Syrian national for allegedly plotting an Islamist suicide attack in Germany. The incident was the latest in a series of prominent events that have triggered public concerns over security and migration.

Wadephul’s empathetic remarks towards Syrians were seized upon by the AfD’s co-leader Alice Weidel, who called them “a slap in the face to the victims of Islamist violence”.

Merz said on Monday he had invited Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to Germany to discuss the deportation of Syrians with criminal records, which has been a topic of debate in Germany for some time.

Wadephul sought to paper over the perceived differences between his and Merz’s position, saying on Tuesday that he was actively involved in pursuing the goal shared by the entire government of increasing the number of deportations of migrants, including of people from Syria.