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Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer: According to his opinion, the ban on deportation to Syria can "not apply without exception"
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Tobias Schwarz / AFP
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) wants to relax the general ban on deportation to Syria.
At the next conference of interior ministers in December, he would advocate that "at least for criminals and those threatening each individual case," a spokeswoman for the interior ministry said in Berlin.
The general ban on deportation for the civil war country Syria has been in place since 2012 and has been extended again and again.
It is currently valid until the end of the year.
The Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) has to decide at its meeting from December 9th to 12th whether to extend it again.
Seehofer does not want this.
The deportation freeze "cannot apply without exception in the opinion of the Federal Interior Minister," said the spokeswoman.
Seehofer is about "a signal" to criminals and threats that "they have forfeited their right of residence in Germany."
In his opinion, the entire federal government must work to ensure that a decision is made in each individual case.
The general ban on deportation last came into focus in October after the knife attack on two German tourists in Dresden, in which one of the attacked men died.
The suspect is a 20-year-old Syrian who is said to have connections to the extremist Islamist scene.
He was arrested two weeks after the crime.
If the Conference of Interior Ministers decides on deportations, situation reports from the Foreign Office on the situation in the respective country are an important basis.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the situation report on Syria was last updated in June.
A spokeswoman for the ministry announced that the interior ministers would have a new report at their meeting on December 9-11.
The human rights organization Pro Asyl sharply criticized Seehofer's plans.
"In view of torture prisons, arbitrary persecution and war crimes against the civilian population, one thing is clear: deportations are and will remain in breach of international law," said Pro-Asylum Director Günter Burkhardt.
"The Foreign Office's new assessment of Syria is not even available, but Interior Minister Seehofer has already decided that the ban on deportation should be weakened," said Burkhardt.
"This clearly shows that Mr. Seehofer is not concerned with the fatal human rights situation on the ground, but with a political signal to the right." Pro Asyl called for the ban on deportations to Syria to be maintained and for no exceptions to be made.
In addition, given the local situation, the regulation should no longer be limited in time.
Left leader Bernd Riexinger also said that Seehofer was "obviously not about justified individual decisions, but only about populism at the expense of refugees."
It is "monstrous what a lack of understanding for his own area of responsibility Interior Minister Seehofer shows."
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