Germany tightens its course. First deportation to Syria since the outbreak of the war

For the first time since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, a Syrian citizen convicted of crimes was deported to this country from Germany. The man was handed over to the authorities in Damascus, the German Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

It is known that the deported person served a prison sentence in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, among others. for robbery and bodily harm.

Also on Tuesday, an Afghan citizen was deported from Germany to his country. According to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin, this was the second deportation of an Afghan convicted in the country in a week.

Deportations to Syria and Afghanistan must be possible. Our society has a reasonable right to expect criminals to leave our country. We stand for control, consistency and decisiveness, said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in a statement.

The issue of deportation to Syria was agreed in the coalition agreement between the bloc of Christian Democratic parties CDU/CSU and the social democratic SPD. In recent months, the German Ministry of the Interior has been conducting talks with the new government in Syria and the Taliban, who have been ruling in Afghanistan since 2021. Dpa reported that German authorities had concluded agreements with Damascus and Kabul enabling regular deportations.

At the end of November, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the civil war in Syria was over and that there were currently no reasons for Syrians to be granted asylum in Germany, so their return could begin. However, as the humanitarian situation in many regions of Syria remains critical, this comment was widely criticized, including by human rights organizations.

Mateusz Obremski (PAP)

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