German Chancellor Invites Syria’s Al-Sharaa for State Visit to Resolve Refugee Deportations
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has officially invited Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa for a state visit to Berlin to discuss the deportation of Syrian refugees with criminal records in Germany, according to Reuters.
“We will, of course, continue to deport criminals to Syria. That is the plan. We will now implement this in a very concrete manner,” Merz told reporters.
Merz also noted that Syrian citizens must return to their country as long as the war was over and Syria has already begun a new era after the fall of Al-Assad regime.
He added that there was “no longer any reason” for Syrians who fled their country’s brutal 13-year war to seek asylum in Germany.
“For those who refuse to return to their country, we can of course expel them,” he said during a visit to Husum, in northern Germany.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stated that prospects for the return of Syrian refugees remain “very limited,” noting that years of civil war have left large parts of the country’s infrastructure in ruins.
“With the overthrow of the Assad dictatorship, the people of Syria have entered a new era,” Wadephul said ahead of his trip to Damascus on last Thursday.
Syria “needs all its strength, and above all Syrians, to rebuild,” Merz added.
Germany is currently a haven for hundreds of thousands of Syrians who left Syria during the civil war.
Recently, German authorities have sought to resume deportations to Syria amid Berlin’s attempts to tighten migration policies due to the rise of the far-right AfD.
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