The focus: Faeser fetches broken short visit to Syria

A month after her visit to Damascus, which was canceled for security reasons, the executive Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser flew into the Syrian capital. The SPD politician is accompanied by her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, as on the first trip, which ended abruptly in Jordan at the end of March.

They are primarily concerned with exploring how the prospects for a voluntary return of Syrian refugees are. Deportations to Syria are also important to you. “Many have found work in Germany, learned German and built up a new life – they should of course be able to stay,” says Faeser. Others, especially criminals and Islamists, should return as soon as possible.

Visit not announced in advance

The German-Austrian delegation flew to the Syrian capital, accompanied by strict security precautions from Cyprus. On her first attempt in March, concrete references to a terrorist threat to western delegations in Damascus motivated the tour group to reverse.

An alliance under the leadership of the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Scham (HTS) had overthrew Syria’s long-term power holder, Bashar al-Assad, after a lightning offensive in early December. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was appointed transitional president, Assad Floh to Moscow.

The new interior minister is a fighter companion of al-Sharaa

Interior Minister Anas Chattab, who received the German-Austrian delegation, has only been in office since March 29. Faeser said at the beginning of the meeting with him that the fall of Assad offers an opportunity for democratization in Syria. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed the members of the second transitional government at the end of March after the fall of Assad. Chattab and Al-Sharaa already know each other from the time when they had supported local groups of the Al Qaeda terror network in Iraq in the fight against the US troops.

After talking to Faeser, which lasted more than an hour, Chattab said: “We talked about energy and how to enable investments and create jobs. Because that will encourage Syrians who left the country at a greater extent.”

It is a narrow ridge on which the federal government is traveling in Syria. On the one hand, she wants to support the new beginning in the Arab country, which after more than 13 years of war on foreign help and a lifting of western sanctions. On the other hand, despite the pragmatic course of Al-Sharaa, there are doubts as to whether the rights of Christians, Alawites and other religious minorities will remain preserved in the future. The majority of Syrians are like Al-Sharaa and his companions of Sunni Muslims.

At the airport, Faeser in Damascus is welcomed by a high -ranking official of the Foreign Ministry – friendly, but without a handshake. She asks him about the current situation. He describes them as “carefully optimistic”. With a view to the security situation, he speaks to “some incidents”.

For the time being, no asylum decisions on Syria

Syria is still the main country of origin of asylum seekers in Germany. In the first quarter of this year, 9,861 people from Syria made an application for protection for the first time in Germany.

As of March 31, the BAMF still had 52,344 Syrian asylum procedures for decision. After the overthrow in December, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had initially exposed decisions about asylum applications from people from Syria because of the still unmanageable situation.

For Faeser, who will take part in a meeting of the Interior Minister of German -speaking countries in the Austrian Krems on Monday, it is one of the last trips to this office. During the negotiations for a black and red coalition, the CDU, CSU and SPD had agreed that a politician named by the CSU should in future lead the interior department.

Regulation for exploratory trips is long in coming

The Federal Ministry of the Interior has been working on an exception since January to enable Syrian refugees to explore trips to their country of origin without losing their protection status in Germany. It would therefore be permitted either a one -time trip for a maximum of four weeks or two trips of a maximum of two weeks, each with the aim of exploring whether a return would be possible.

However, several Union politicians have critically commented on the proposal – including the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU).