Germany’s promised deportation push for Syrians with criminal convictions or security concerns has stalled, with no further removals carried out since Jan. 21 despite more than 11,000 Syrians being legally required to leave the country.
According to Welt am Sonntag, the central obstacle is the absence of replacement travel documents needed to return individuals who do not have valid identification. Since the end of January, not a single additional document has reportedly been issued for deportations to Syria, leaving the policy effectively frozen.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed the start of deporting Syrian criminals back to their homeland after talks with the Islamist government that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, yet just four individuals were forcibly sent back in the first two months of the program, and none in the next four.
The federal government had said it would take the lead in coordinating the procurement of travel documents, rather than leaving the task to individual states. Bavaria’s Interior Ministry told Welt am Sonntag that the special procedure differs from the normal process because the federal government is responsible in the initial phase for the entire operation, including obtaining replacement travel papers from Syria.
However, it remains unclear how the Federal Police intend to secure those documents. In normal cases, German states apply to the embassy of the country of origin. In Syria’s case, the Federal Police reportedly did not say whether the process was being handled through the Syrian embassy in Berlin or through alternative channels.
The result is that a policy repeatedly presented as a tougher new approach to migration has produced only single-digit deportation figures.
Merz had previously taken a hard line on the issue while in opposition, and not just in relation to Syrian criminals but the wider Syrian diaspora. During an ARD appearance in December 2024, he said that the “one-third” of Syrians who “work and are integrated” in Germany could remain, but added that “the two-thirds who do not work, they are overwhelmingly young men; many of them can go back, and many must go back.”
The now-chancellor said Germany should speak openly with those migrants and tell them, “You have no place in Germany in the long term.” He argued that returns to parts of Syria had already been possible for some time.
The issue has also been sharpened by crime statistics released by the German government, showing Syrians are disproportionately represented commensurate with their percentage of the German population. In December last year, the Interior Ministry disclosed that Syrian suspects had been linked to 135,668 crimes against German victims between 2015 and 2024, a figure equivalent to one offense every 39 minutes over the past decade.
In March, Merz met Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Berlin, where returns were among the main subjects discussed. Merz said al-Sharaa wanted around 80 percent of Syrians in Germany to return to Syria over the next three years.
“In the longer perspective of the next three years, it is the wish of President al-Sharaa that around 80 percent of the Syrians in Germany should go back into their homeland,” Merz said, adding, “We need a reliable repatriation option, cooperation with Syria.”
Merz said many Syrians were “needed at home,” while also stressing that protection statuses would be reviewed. “Those who have no claim will leave Germany again,” he said, particularly those who “abuse our hospitality.” At the same time, he said Germany welcomed Syrian skilled workers who had integrated.
