Repatriations: Traffic light controversy over Syria and Afghanistan deportations

There are signs of disagreement within the traffic light government on the issue of deporting criminals to Syria and Afghanistan. According to a report in “Bild am Sonntag” (“BamS”), the Foreign Office has referred to major security problems in Syria in a confidential assessment of the situation. Fighting continues in all parts of the country, and there are credible reports of some of the most serious human rights violations, including torture and executions, which have also affected returnees in the past, it says. The United Nations – which has a presence in Syria – therefore continues to assess “that the conditions for the safe return of refugees are not in place.”

Federal government negotiates with third countries

As a consequence of the fatal knife attack in Mannheim, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced that the deportation of serious criminals and terrorist threats to Afghanistan and Syria would be permitted again. The Federal Government is negotiating with various third countries to enable deportations to Afghanistan, for example. On May 31, an Afghan man injured five men with a knife on Mannheim’s market square. 29-year-old police officer Rouven Laur died of his injuries two days later. Another officer shot the attacker.

A few days ago, a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court in Münster also caused a stir. It stated that civilians in Syria no longer face “a serious, individual threat to their lives or physical integrity as a result of indiscriminate violence in the context of an internal armed conflict.”

Baerbock skeptical after Scholz’s promise

At his summer press conference a few days ago, Scholz announced that decisions on the issue would be made soon. “I have said publicly that we will carry out deportations, particularly of criminals, to Afghanistan, but also to other countries such as Syria, and we are preparing for this to actually happen.” He continued: “(But) we are working very precisely to ensure that you will soon be able to report on deportations that have actually been carried out to Afghanistan, for example.” Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) told “BamS”: “We are negotiating confidentially with various states to make deportations to Afghanistan and Syria possible again.”

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) expressed her general skepticism at an event organized by the “Zeit” newspaper in Hamburg on Friday, without directly referring to Scholz or others. “I believe that, especially in such uncertain times, it is not a contribution to security to make promises that you then no longer know the next day how you can actually keep,” she said. Germany currently has no diplomatic relations with the Taliban rulers in Kabul or with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.