November 3, 2025
Merz invites Syrian president for talks on deportations
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he had invited Syria’s new transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Germany. Merz said the trip would be an opportunity to directly discuss Berlin’s plans to return Syrian criminals to their home country.
According to official figures, some 951,400 Syrian nationals were still living in Germany as of August 2025, including 920 who have a deportation order.
“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.
Germany also wants to help stabilize the country, he said, adding that he intends to discuss with Sharaa “how we can solve this together.”
The German chancellor also said Syrian refugees could go home, now that the war is over.
“The civil war in Syria is over. There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, which means we can begin repatriations,” Merz said.
Syria “needs all its strength, and above all Syrians, to rebuild,” Merz said, adding he was confident many would return on their own.
“Without these people, reconstruction is impossible,” the chancellor said, discussing Germany’s pledge to help rebuild Syria.
“And those in Germany who then refuse to return to their country, we can, of course, deport in the near future,” he added.
But the chancellor’s comments directly contradicted remarks made by his foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, during a visit to Damascus last week. Wadephul said that Syrian refugees living in Germany would be unlikely to return “in the near future” due to the destruction of the country.
Germany’s top diplomat was struck by the devastation that was still visible, as he toured the Damascus suburb of Harasta, nearly a year after the fall of long-term ruler Bashar Assad.
“It is barely possible for people to live here with dignity,” Wadephul said.
