Syrian President Ahmed Al‑Sharaa is set to visit Berlin on Tuesday for official talks, as German authorities are accelerating the deportation of Syrian nationals, according to Arab News.
Al‑Sharaa is scheduled to meet German counterpart Frank‑Walter Steinmeier, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office has not confirmed whether he will also hold talks during the visit.
The visit will focus on accelerating the repatriation of Syrians—a policy priority for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative-led coalition since the overthrow of Assad.
In November, Merz officially invited Al-Sharaa for a state visit to Berlin to discuss the deportation of Syrian refugees with criminal records in Germany.
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.
Germany is currently a haven for approximately one million Syrians who left Syria during the civil war.
Recently, German authorities sought to resume deportations to Syria amid Berlin’s attempts to tighten migration policies due to the rise of the far-right AfD.
In December, Germany executed its first deportation of a Syrian since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, returning a man convicted of crimes to Damascus.
However, rights groups condemned the step, citing ongoing instability and documented abuses in Syria.
Related Topics:
Syria Declares Ceasefire in Aleppo after Deadly Clashes
Syria to Launch New Banknotes on January 1
Syrian, US Troops Wounded in Attack on Central Syria
