German Interior Minister Nancy Feser presented a plan for the return of refugees from Syria residing in Germany and announced verification of their status.
“According to our laws, the Office for Refugees and Migration will review the protection status of refugees from Syria and, if necessary, revoke it as the situation in Syria has stabilized,” the minister told the media.
She added that there was hope for peace after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December. “When that hope becomes a reality, many refugees will be able to return to their country,” Fezer said.
She said that her ministry, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, was working to create a clear picture of the security situation in Syria and that it was working in “close cooperation” with European and international partners.
The German government’s plan envisages a right of residence in Germany for those refugees who are employed or in the process of education, who have mastered the German language and “have found a new homeland here.”
Furthermore, the program for those who want to return voluntarily to Syria was neglected, and the government’s program to help voluntary returnees was expanded accordingly. Furthermore, those who have committed crimes or are considered Islamists by the authorities should be deported to Syria as soon as possible. “The legal options for this exist and have recently been expanded, and we will use them as soon as the security situation in Syria allows,” said Feser.
Around 975,000 Syrian citizens live in Germany, and around 300,000 enjoy so-called subsidiary protection, which is not based on an individual protection decision, but on the basis of the military situation in Syria, and which expires when the situation in that country changes. A few weeks ago, the Federal Office for Refugees and Migration stopped processing asylum applications from applicants coming from Syria.
The debate over the status of refugees from Syria is increasingly becoming a topic of the election campaign for the early parliamentary elections held at the end of February, with the parties most demanding the rapid return of refugees who are not integrated into the labor market.
