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Merz Declares Syria No Longer Grounds for Asylum, Seeks Deportation with Interim Leader

Chancellor Merz says Syrians in Germany should return to rebuild Syria following Assad's fall, citing no asylum grounds; about 1 million Syrians reside in Germany.

  • On Nov 3, Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Germany to discuss deporting convicted Syrians and said, `Those who refuse to return to their country can, of course, be deported in the future.`
  • With around one million Syrians in Germany, most having fled during the 2015–2016 migration wave, Merz said Syria `needs all its strength, and above all Syrians, to rebuild` and Germany wants to help stabilise the country.
  • In 2024, Syrians were the largest group naturalised in Germany, accounting for 83,150 people, while only around 1,000 returned with federal assistance in the first half of this year and German hospitals warn of labour shortages if departures accelerate.
  • Senior Christian Democratic Union figures swiftly distanced themselves after Merz's remarks, while the far-right Alternative for Germany surged in polls pressuring tougher migration policies; naturalised Syrians and residents with permits cannot be forcibly returned, warned human rights experts .
  • Issuing a caution, the United Nations said conditions in Syria rule out large-scale repatriations, noting some 70% of Syrians rely on humanitarian aid, while officials propose a Work and Stay Agency to speed skilled-worker processing.
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145 Articles

Lean Right

For the first time, a German court has declared deportations to Syria permissible and legitimate, claiming that the Syrians “are no longer under threat” in their country. The Administrative Court of Düsseldorf has just given the green light to the expulsion of two Syrian citizens. According to the judgment they will not be “no significant danger”, given that in the regions of origin of the two men, the provinces of Damascus and Latakia, the leve…

·Spain
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Right

As the picture reports, pressure on Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is growing within the Union. Merz Wadephul ... The post "Minister on probation": Wadephul massively counted within the Union appeared first on Apollo News.

Center

Repatriations to Syria – whether this is as easy as the situation is right now? Rather not. Foreign Minister Wadephul has said the obvious. Hardliners like Jens Spahn see this differently.

·Berlin, Germany
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tz.de broke the news in on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
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