The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has opened the door to a policy of massive repatriations of Syrian citizens, considering that there are no longer reasons to grant them asylum after the end of the civil war in their country.
It is worth remembering that the leading power of the European Union welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other Member State during the fourteen years of conflict. Around a million of them remain in the country. The reason why so many settled in Berlin and other cities is the open door policy promoted in 2015 by Angela Merkel. Merz not only promised to close them; Also, empty the room.
The fall of Bashar al-Asad and the relative stability of the regime Ahmed Al Sharaa They are a golden opportunity for the expulsion of Syrians. “There is no longer any basis for asylum in Germany,” he reasoned Monday, “so we can start repatriations.”
The chancellor also assured that many Syrians will return on their own initiative to participate in the reconstruction of the country and warned that those who refuse may be deported “in the near future.”
The proposal cannot be explained without the rise of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD. This nationalist, Islamophobic and Eurosceptic formation threatens to surpass the conservatives in the polls on the eve of five crucial regional events. And migration, for years, has appeared as the greatest citizen concern in many surveys.
Between toughening the asylum policy to regain support and firmly confronting xenophobic discourse, Merz opted for the latter. The United Nations, in any case, remembers the conditions in Syria do not allow massive returns. Seven out of ten inhabitants continue to depend on international aid and the country remains mired in a deep humanitarian crisis.
This warning was supported last week by the Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephulupon his return from Damascus. The head of German diplomacy questioned whether the diaspora is willing to return voluntarily to a devastated country. Wadephul’s words, as expected, made many fellow Christian Democrats uncomfortable and agitated the extreme right.
The co-chair of AfD, Alice Weideleven described them as a “slap” to the victims of Islamist attacks.
Merz intends to convince Al Sharaa to travel to Germany to address the issue. He wants to repeat the Bosnian experience. That is to say: it aspires to repatriate hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylees without coercing them too much. It seems difficult to achieve it by good means. That process had a more solid peace architecture than that existing in Syria today.
So far, only a thousand Syrians have returned to their country with federal support since the end of the war in December. There are many more who live a normal life in the country, and more than 7,000 are doctors who work in rural areas where it is difficult to fill vacancies.