Syrians should leave Germany now, says former German finance minister

 Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Islamabad (UrduPoint News Today/ Pakistan Point News - DW Urdu - December 25, 2024) Speaking to the German news agency DPA in Berlin, Christian Lindner, head of the Free Democratic Party, said, “It should be mandatory for those who came to our country because of the civil war to return to their homes.”

“Those who want to stay here can apply for permanent residence under our immigration laws,” Lindner said.

‘‘

Free and fair elections are essential in Syria, says UN

Repatriation of Syrians from Turkey

According to the former German finance minister, staying in Germany should be based on a transparent procedure and not happen automatically: “The important thing is that a person can support themselves (and their families) through employment? Have they committed any crimes? And whether they clearly recognize our free and democratic constitution?”

“As a host society, we have the right to decide,” he added.

We cannot bear the burden of immigrants on our social system.”

Syrians in Germany number nearly one million

According to the German Interior Ministry, there are currently around 975,000 Syrians in the country. Most of them came to Germany in 2015 to escape the Syrian civil war.

More than 300,000 of them have “subsidiary protection.”

This is a legal protection that is relatively lower than asylum or refugee status and is granted on the basis of war rather than an individual risk of persecution.

Rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, and Assad fled Syria to Russia, where he and his family have been granted political asylum.

Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria for more than two decades.

HTS has since set up a transitional government in Damascus. Syrians who fled the country after the fall of the Assad regime are now returning to their homeland.

On Tuesday, December 24, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that more than 25,000 Syrians had returned to their homeland since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. About three million Syrians have taken refuge in Turkey, and their presence there has become a problem for the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.