Overview
- At a Berlin news conference Monday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that roughly 80% of Syrians in Germany should return within three years, a figure that would affect about 740,000 people out of roughly 930,000 to 975,000 residents.
- Syrian transitional president Ahmed al‑Scharaa later told Chatham House that he did not set the 80% figure and said the words were Merz’s, deepening confusion over who proposed the goal.
- Following Tuesday’s clarification, the government published a German‑Syrian action plan and announced a taskforce and near‑term delegation, describing only “voluntary, safe and dignified” returns tied to restored services and infrastructure in Syria.
- Migration-law scholars called the 80% goal illusory, noting that revoking protection requires case‑by‑case reviews under German and EU rules and that voluntary returns remain very low, with fewer than 10,000 departures since early 2025.
- Hospitals and labor groups warned of real‑world strain if large numbers left, citing several thousand Syrian doctors on staff in Germany and hundreds of thousands of Syrians in work, including in shortage fields such as health care and logistics.