Germany resumes deportations to Syria after nearly 15 years

Germany has deported a convicted criminal to Syria for the first time since civil war broke out in the country nearly 15 years ago, the Interior Ministry in Berlin said.

The Syrian was handed over to authorities in Damascus on Tuesday morning, the ministry said, adding that he had been serving prison time for aggravated robbery, assault and extortion.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Afghan man convicted of intentional bodily harm was also deported, marking the second such deportation within one week, according to the ministry.

“Deportations to Syria and Afghanistan must be possible. Our society has a legitimate interest in ensuring that criminals leave our country,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, vowing “checks, consistency and a clear stance” on migration.

Germany halted direct deportations to Syria after war erupted in 2011 following the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests by the regime of long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad.

After al-Assad was ousted by a rebel alliance late last year, calls grew in Germany for Syrian refugees to return home. But the then centre-left government cautioned that it was too early to determine whether conditions in Syria were safe.

The conservative-led government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which took office in May, has since adopted a more hard-line stance on migration, pledging to resume deportations to Syria and Afghanistan starting with convicted criminals.

Syrian lived in Germany for 10 years

The 37-year-old man deported to Syria on Tuesday had previously been based in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, city officials said.

He entered Germany in 2015 and received a residence permit, which was repeatedly extended, but the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees later repealed the man’s protection status, the city said.

This, on top of the man’s criminal offences, led local authorities to reject a further extension of his residence permit and ask him to leave the country or else face deportation to Syria, but he never complied with the request, Gelsenkirchen officials said.

In the end, he was deported on a commercial flight on Tuesday, dpa has learned.

The 35-year-old Afghan man deported on the same day was previously based in Bavaria.

It comes after a 28-year-old Afghan man was deported to Kabul on December 17 on a commercial flight.

New government paves way for deportations

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Germany has deported groups of Afghan nationals twice, with assistance from Qatar. A first flight took off in August 2024, under the government of chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Following months of talks, German government officials have now reached agreements with Syria’s new government as well as Afghanistan’s Taliban regime to facilitate deportations of convicted criminals and individuals deemed a security risk on a regular basis, according to the ministry.

It comes after Merz said in November that he would personally lobby Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa for a swift resumption of deportations to Syria.

“The civil war in Syria is over. There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, which means we can begin repatriation,” he said on November 3.

He later clarified that Germany “will not deport” those politically or religiously persecuted.

During a visit to Damascus in late October, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, a member of Merz’s conservatives, expressed horror at the destruction that was still visible in the city nearly one year after the fall of al-Assad.

“It is barely possible for people to live here with dignity,” the minister said during a visit to the Harasta suburb, which was largely destroyed during the war. “In the near future, [Syrian refugees] can not return,” Wadephul said.

His comments triggered backlash from within his own conservative bloc, which has long been pushing for deportations to resume.