Many people fled the violence in Syria, including to Germany.
For years the Federal Republic did not deport anyone there, the situation was so desolate.
This is going to change.
Berlin - Since 2012, there has been a
ban on deportation for Syria
in Germany
- but that's now over: The regulation expires at the end of the year.
There has been a dispute about the procedure for a long time, also in view of Islamist terror in Germany and neighboring European countries.
Now the
federal and state interior ministers
could no longer agree on an extension of the stop.
Although the SPD-led countries in particular had massively pushed for it.
Syria: Deportation stop ends in January - Bavaria's interior minister sees only “small groups” affected
This means that the authorities will be able to examine a deportation in each individual case from next year.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann
(CSU), as spokesman for the Union-led countries, had already emphasized during the deliberations that the question of a possible
deportation did not even arise for the vast majority of Syrian refugees
.
It is about the
small group of serious criminals and threats
, i.e. people who the security authorities trust in the most serious politically motivated crimes, including terrorist attacks.
The population cannot be expected to stay in this country, said Herrmann.
“In individual cases, it must be possible to check again in the future to return them to their home country.” This was also previously
demanded
by Federal Interior Minister
Horst Seehofer
(CSU), who was represented by a state secretary at the conference after contacting a corona-infected employee.
The Union-led countries have been pushing for an end to the blanket deportation freeze for a long time, and the issue has
sparked heated discussions
at earlier
conferences of interior ministers
.
Deportations to Syria: SPD head of department poses explosive question to Merkel's government - "diplomatic relations with criminal regime"
Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Boris Pistorius
(SPD) was more
skeptical
.
Deportations to Syria
remained very, very difficult, emphasized Pistorius as spokesman for the SPD interior ministers on Friday in Berlin at the end of the conference.
“I also think that's a bit populist,” he said at the end of the stop.
Practical problems remained, explained Pistorius.
There are
neither direct flights to Syria
nor
relations with the government of President Bashar al-Assad
.
He wanted to know whether the Federal Republic was now ready to "establish diplomatic relations with the Assad criminal regime".
Pistorius had already stated on Friday afternoon that the
discussion was unrealistic.
There were also no contact points to organize a return.
In addition, no one should be deported to a country where he is threatened with torture or death.
If the deportation stop is not extended, he will keep track of how many people are actually deported.
Deportations: Herrmann wants to bring people to "suitable" areas of Syria
Herrmann saw the situation more pragmatically.
He emphasized that
Assad supporters
had also come
to Germany
who had stated that they were being
persecuted
by the
IS terrorist militia
.
"When I send someone like that back to Damascus, it is not at all recognizable that something is threatened by the regime there, so to speak."
Assad opponents,
on the other hand, could possibly be sent to
parts of the country under the control of Turkey
or
Kurdish groups
.
Even during the talks, there was
strong criticism
from the
Greens and the Left
.
The Green politician Claudia Roth accused the interior ministers of the CDU and CSU of irresponsibility.
"The fact that the interior ministers of the Union want the ban on deportation to Syria to expire at the end of the year is a scandal and cannot be beaten in terms of irresponsibility," she said.
Syria is a
torture state, a dictatorship and still a war country
in which no one is safe.
Even in the case of delinquency, it is not justified to expose people to danger to life and limb.
Dispute over deportations: Left warns of “propaganda against refugees” - Foreign Office sees great dangers
The domestic political spokeswoman for the left-wing parliamentary group,
Ulla Jelpke
, spoke of “propaganda against refugees”.
Syria
is not safe, the
Federal Foreign Office
also pointed out
in its
situation report
.
“Human rights are indivisible, and they also apply to so-called threats and criminals - nobody is allowed to be deported to Syria.” In its internal report, the Foreign Office wrote: “Regardless of the relative decline in hostilities, according to the United Nations, it continues to occur in all parts of the country massive human rights violations by various actors. "
Because of the Corona crisis, the conference took place in a small group with a few ministers in Berlin, the
rest was added
.
It ends on Friday - but the next momentous switch should soon be pending: At the weekend, the federal and state governments want to talk about tightening the corona rules before Christmas.
(dpa / fn)