The German newspaper ‘Frankfurter’ revealed that German authorities deported 787 Syrian refugees in the first half of 2024, though not directly to Syria, due to legal and political obstacles. Instead, the deportations were to other countries as part of bilateral or European arrangements.
This action has sparked political debate in Germany, especially given the difficulty in accurately determining the number of individuals eligible for deportation. Policies vary across German states, complicating the criteria for classifying individuals as criminals or otherwise.
The newspaper noted that responses from interior ministries were inconsistent, with few states providing exact numbers, while some, like Bremen and Berlin, opted not to disclose figures to maintain confidentiality.
Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the Autonomous Administration, recently expressed willingness to welcome Syrian refugees wishing to voluntarily return to northern and eastern Syria. However, a spokeswoman for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees confirmed that voluntary return programs do not support returns to Syria due to the challenging security situation.
Although Germany lifted its deportation ban to Syria at the end of 2020, no deportations to Syria have been conducted since the ban’s initiation in 2012. Germany has accepted around 800,000 Syrian refugees since 2015, with debates on integration and refugee-related crime dominating media and political discourse in a climate increasingly opposed to refugees, particularly Arabs and Muslims.
