Will Germany take back around 800 Syrian refugees – this is Chancellor Merz’s proposal?

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Express newspaper
05/04/2026 20:34

Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated after meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa that “in the next three years, around 80% of Syrians currently staying in Germany should return to their homeland.” He therefore spoke in favor of accelerating the repatriation of over 950.000 Syrians, who have mainly arrived with the 2015-2016 refugee crisis.

Priority is given to people without valid residence permits and the “problematic group of Syrians with criminal records.” Germany will invest over 200 million euros this year in the reconstruction of Syria. But on Tuesday, Merz clarified the statement that 80% of Syrians have returned. He said the figure came from the Syrian President.

Is it legally and practically possible to repatriate so many people in such a short time? For three years, 730 people would have to return every day. 250.000 Syrians now have German citizenship, 70.000 with an unlimited residence permit. Voluntarily, in 1 year, despite funding from Germany, around 3.600 Syrians have returned.

Al-Sharaaja expressed “deep gratitude” to “the German government and the German people, who opened their doors to more than a million Syrians, who allowed them to find safety here – and to rebuild their shattered lives.” He expressed hope that German companies would bring expertise to Syria. He called for investment and partnerships.

Reactions to the return statement were mixed: the SPD warned that return expectations were not being met, the Left, a far-left party, said it “feeds the AfD’s fantasies of mass deportation,” while the AfD, a right-wing populist party, criticized the figure as “belated.”

Representatives of the German medical community warned of shortages in healthcare: Syrians are the largest group of foreign doctors in German hospitals: with over 5.700 doctors.

Syrian lawyer Nahla Osman told DW that the statement evokes despair and anger, and seems “more like an internal political signal, in the context of the rise of the AfD, than a viable strategy.” /DW Albanian