Germany’s Merz Calls for Repatriation of Syrians, Deportations If They Don’t Leave Voluntarily

According to Germany’s federal statistics office, 712,000 Syrians were registered as asylum seekers, 22 percent of the 3.17 million asylum seekers in Germany.

Friedrich Merz, chancellor candidate and leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), speaks to delegates at a CDU party congress in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 3, 2025. Maja Hitij/Getty Images

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Nov. 3 said that the civil war in Syria is now over and refugees can start to return home, whether that be voluntarily or through deportations.

Merz told reporters during a visit to Husum in Schleswig-Holstein: “There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, and therefore we can also begin with repatriations.