German Interior Minister intends to revoke protected status for Syrian refugees

On January 4, the head of the German Interior Ministry Nancy Feather presented a plan for further actions of the German authorities with regard to refugees from Syria in case of stabilization of the situation in the Arab republic. This plan consists of four points and provides, in particular, for depriving refugees of the status of protected persons, as a result of which they will be forced to leave the territory of the FRG.

"In accordance with our legislation, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees will review and withdraw protection grants if people no longer need this protection in Germany because of the stabilization of the situation in Syria," Die Welt newspaper quoted Feather as saying.

She noted that the revocation of protected status would apply to those who "do not have the right to reside [in Germany] for other reasons, such as work or education, and do not want to return to Syria voluntarily."

In addition, the minister listed three other points of her plan.

"First, those who have integrated well, are working, have learned German and have found a new home here should be allowed to stay in Germany," she said.

The second point is that refugees who want to return to their homeland will be supported. To this end, Feather continued, the state program aimed at those who want to return to their country voluntarily will be expanded. And the third point of the plan is the early deportation of criminals and Islamists.

"We have significantly expanded the legal possibilities for this and will use them as soon as the situation in Syria allows," the FRG Interior Minister said.

Feather noted that the German authorities primarily base their decisions on security issues and "closely coordinate joint actions with European and international partners."

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Earlier, on December 27, 2024, Austrian Foreign Minister Gerhard Karner said that the country is preparing to deport Syrians who have not integrated into society and have committed offenses. He noted that the Federal Office for Foreigners and Refugees has suspended all asylum decisions for Syrians and has already started the first rejection procedures. In addition, all residence rights already granted are being reviewed, Karner said. According to the minister, there are now almost 100,000 Syrians living in Austria.

On December 16 of the same year, it was noted that after the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, European countries are massively denying asylum to refugees from the Arab republic. The first of the European countries, which began to suspend decisions on more than 60 thousand applications of citizens of the ATS for asylum, was Germany - the leader in the number of Syrian migrants in Europe. According to the country's Interior Ministry, by October 2024 their number was about 1 million out of 1.3 million across Europe.

Now the EU fears a new wave of migration crisis. Among the migrants who are counting on political asylum, according to UN calculations, about 1.5 million people who fled after the recent escalation of the conflict in northwestern Syria. It is noted that the migration to Europe of former prisoners who have left or may leave Syrian prisons due to the weakened protection of penitentiary institutions cannot be ruled out - among others, IS militants (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) are held there.

On December 8, 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after negotiations with the opposition, left the post of head of state and left the country, giving instructions to carry out the transfer of power peacefully.

On the same day, the national coalition of revolutionary and opposition forces of Syria announced the work on the formation of a transitional authority. In turn, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said that most of the ministers of the Syrian government remain in Damascus, and he himself is ready to cooperate with any elected leadership.

The situation in Syria has escalated as a result of a major attack by armed formations in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to the Syrian army's retaliatory actions against the militants.