{"id":53858,"date":"2025-11-03T15:48:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-invites-syrian-president-for-talks-on-deportation-of-criminals\/03\/11\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T15:48:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:48:51","slug":"merz-invites-syrian-president-for-talks-on-deportation-of-criminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-invites-syrian-president-for-talks-on-deportation-of-criminals\/03\/11\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz invites Syrian president for talks on deportation of criminals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday invited Syria&#8217;s new transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Germany to discuss Berlin&#8217;s plans to return Syrian criminals to their home country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The civil war in Syria is over. There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, which means we can begin repatriations,&#8221; Merz said during a visit to the northern port town of Husum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The chancellor&#8217;s comments are at odds with remarks made by his foreign minister during a visit to Damascus last week, who said that Syrian refugees living in Germany would be unlikely to return &#8220;in the near future&#8221; due to the destruction of the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During his inaugural trip to Syria, Germany&#8217;s top diplomat Johann Wadephul was struck by the devastation that was still visible in a Damascus suburb nearly a year after the fall of long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It is barely possible for people to live here with dignity,&#8221; the minister said while visiting the neighbourhood of Harasta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;In the near future, [Syrian refugees] can not return,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Merz promised that Germany would contribute to Syrian reconstruction, but added that he was also banking on a large part of the Syrian refugees living in Germany to return home and join in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Without these people, reconstruction is impossible,&#8221; the chancellor said. &#8220;And those in Germany who then refuse to return to their country we can, of course, deport in the near future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to official figures, around 951,400 Syrian nationals were based in Germany at the end of August, including 920 with a deportation order.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Al-Sharaa led a rebel alliance that ousted al-Assad in December after more than a decade of civil war. A former Islamist, he has sought to present a moderate image and vowed to respect the rights of all of Syrian society, including women and minorities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, as the first anniversary of al-Assad&#8217;s ouster nears, the situation in Syria remains fragile, with hopes for a better future dampened by repeated fatal clashes, including between government troops and minorities.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Germany&#8217;s Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference at the Schifffahrtsmuseum Nordfriesland. The Federal Chancellor is on his inaugural visit to Schleswig-Holstein. Marcus Brandt\/dpa<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/merz-invites-syrian-president-talks-201221170.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday invited Syria&rsquo;s new transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Germany to discuss Berlin&rsquo;s plans to return<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-invites-syrian-president-for-talks-on-deportation-of-criminals\/03\/11\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/dpa_international_526\/b3d6789bc18cd0e56012d1bdbf37389d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}