Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says that Syrian refugees should be able to travel to their home country in order to go on an “exploratory trip” to see if it is safe to return home.
It is part of a four-point plan to review the protection status of Syrian refugees. Already, tens of thousands have been provided German citizenship, so the government has no power to deport these former migrants home. However, the left-liberal government, under pressure due to a number of terror attacks and growing anger about mass immigration, is pushing for some migrants to go home, at least in the run-up to national elections on Feb 23.
Normally, if Syrians return home to their country, they can lose their protection status, unless they travel for a funeral or other “moral” reason, such as to care for a sick relative. However, the government now wants to allow a “one-off” trip to survey the situation in the country.
This Syrian migrant famously took a selfie with Merkel back in 2016.
Now, he says he has no plans to return to Syria.
The same applies for hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Even if conditions improve in Syria, many receive benefits in Germany they'll never willingly give up. pic.twitter.com/wkXGhacFDV
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 13, 2024“Voluntary return to Syria will only be possible if people can see for themselves whether houses are still standing, whether family members with whom they may have had no contact for a long time are still alive and whether they are really safe in their homeland,” said ministry spokesman, Maximilian Kall in Berlin.
Supporting her position is Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party. The Interior Ministry is now working with the federal office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF) to work out a program that allows Syrians to return home briefly.
Faeser says there is no change necessary in the law in order to facilitate these journeys.
🇸🇾🇩🇪 German politicians are spreading misleading information about Syrian doctors working in Germany.
5,000 Syrian doctors may sound like a lot, but there are 420,000 doctors in Germany. The number of Syrian doctors is approximately just enough to cover the 1 million Syrian… pic.twitter.com/fHJh9945y9
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 30, 2024It remains unclear how this program will be monitored. Presumably, some Syrians could abuse this option to go on vacation in Syria and visit relatives with no intention of staying. However, other Syrians may see it as a valid opportunity to survey the situation in their home country.
Despite Bashar Al-Assad falling from power, there has been actually a slight increase in Syrians living in Germany since October, rising from 974,136 Syrians to 975,061 Syrians in December. Many Syrians say they have no intention of going back even as tens of thousands marched in the streets of Germany with Syrian flags to celebrate the downfall of Assad.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) said Faeser’s proposal is “adventurous.”
“The decision as to whether the changed conditions in Syria leads to a revocation of protection status must remain with the German authorities. However, the federal interior and foreign ministers give the impression that Syrians can then decide for themselves whether they still like it at home or not. This would open the door to abuse,” he told the dpa in Munich.
