Fragile new beginning in Syria: Faeser breaks trip to Damascus due to terrorist warning

According to concrete references to a possibly planned attack, the executive Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) and her Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, broke a planned trip to Syria at short notice. “Because of a very urgent risk of terrorism, we carefully weighed what it means for the security of those who accompany us and have been considering that we can cancel the trip better,” said Faeser in Amman. Her delegation then opened to visit the Jordanian refugee camp Saatari for people from Syria, 20 kilometers away from the Syrian border.

The managing minister and her delegation should have brought an aircraft from the Air Force to Damascus from Jordan in the morning. According to Faeser, the trip should be made up for. So far there is no new appointment.

“Due to the concrete warnings of the German security authorities on a terrorist threat, Federal Interior Minister Faeser broke off a trip to the Syrian capital Damascus planned for this morning before departure from the Jordanian capital Amman,” said a spokesman for the ministry. Faeser made the decision together with Karner.

After the first hint came late on Wednesday evening, the two ministers and their security advisors were advised in Amman until early morning, where they spoke to Jordanian government representatives about return opportunities for Syrian refugees on Wednesday. Finally, after comparing the assessments of the security authorities of various states, they decided to cancel.

Delegation threat not responsible

“The possible threat to the delegation and the security forces used was not responsible,” said the spokesman. It could not be ruled out that the danger referred to the German and Austrian delegation.

The trip had been planned under high security measures and not announced in public. Discussions with two ministers from the transitional government and representatives of aid organizations of the United Nations were planned.

According to Western secret services, both supporters of the old guard of ex-President Bashar Al Assad and their Iranian allies have interest in a failure of the transitional government as well as Sunni Islamists, whom the opening of the new rulers do not like to western governments.

Security situation in Syria further fragile

At the center of the visit of Faeser and Karner in Damascus should be security questions and perspectives for returning Syrian refugees. “In particular, Germany and Austria are working intensively on the fact that severe criminals and endangers with Syrian citizenship can be returned to Syria as quickly as possible,” said the spokesman for the Interior Ministry. These questions should be discussed with the transitional government at the earliest possible time. “However, this incident also shows that the security situation in Syria is still fragile,” said the spokesman.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) currently does not make any decisions on asylum applications from people from Syria due to the unstable situation. At the end of February, around 53,000 asylum procedures related to Syria were pending at the BAMF. Between 2015 and 2023, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 163,170 Syrian citizens were naturalized in Germany.

Germany hopes for progress in Syria

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Damascus reopened the German message last week, which had been closed since 2012 for security reasons. The recalculation of the security situation, which has now led to the demolition of the journey from Faeser and Karner, consequences also has a short notice for the ability to work by the German Embassy in Damascus. After the opening, this only took up operation in a very limited form. Consular matters are still supervised by the representation in Beirut.

New situation after the fall of Assad

In December, the Syrian long-term power of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by a rebel alliance led by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Scham (HTS).

In the meantime, the country is led by a transitional government around President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Three weeks ago, a surprise attack had triggered a military campaign in the coastal region in the northwest with hundreds of deaths – including many alawite civilians.

In contrast, there are positive developments such as the agreement of an agreement between the transitional government and the Kurdish Syrian democratic forces (SDF) on March 10.

More than 972,000 Syrian citizens live in Germany

At the end of February, 972,470 Syrian citizens lived in Germany, according to the central central register. Among them were around 10,600 people who are obliged to leave. About 9,500 of them had tolerance. The tolerated are people who are subject to departure but cannot be deported for certain reasons – for example because they have no ID documents or are sick. The tolerance is always limited.

For more than two months, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has been working on a regulation that should allow refugees from Syria to travel to the old home for a short time without risking their protection status in Germany. The idea behind it: People should be able to find out whether the prerequisite for a safe return. Some of the Union politicians critically commented on this proposal by Faeser and Baerbock.

The basic supply of living space, electricity, drinking water and school lessons are important, said Faeser. As long as this is not the case, many refugees hesitated who actually wanted to return. According to an employee of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), who received Faeser there, around 5,700 people have voluntarily returned from the Saatari refugee camp since the fall of Assad. According to his information, around 75,000 people are currently still living there in containers.