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DPA
Berlin
German state interior ministers stepped up the nation’s refugee rules on Thursday by moving to deport Syrians charged with dangerous offences to their war-torn nation.
The ministers, from both Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats, made an exception to the current deportation ban, thus allowing dangerous criminals to be returned to Syria, which has been battered by nearly nine years of civil war.
At the same time, the ministers from Germany’s 16 states called for the deportation ban for Syrians to be extended for a further six months.
Merkel’s government has been under pressure to toughen up the rules for refugees living in Germany following the backlash towards her 2015 decision to head off the threat of a refugee crisis in Europe by allowing about 890,000 newcomers to enter the country.
Thursday’s move by the state interior ministers follows a series of high-profile crimes committed by refugees living in the country, resulting in a push by the country’s conservatives to deport criminals to Syria as well as Afghanistan.
However, the ministers were also aware of the practical difficulties in implementing the easing the deportation ban.
“There are no contact persons for us in Syria at the moment, that’s the difficulty,” said Hans-Joachim Grote, interior minister in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The ministers are expected to formalize the decision on Friday, which should apply for one year - unless there is in the meantime a new assessment of the situation in Syria.
However, the German Foreign Ministry has concluded that there is currently no region in Syria’s civil war zone where refugees can be returned without risk.
Berlin
German state interior ministers stepped up the nation’s refugee rules on Thursday by moving to deport Syrians charged with dangerous offences to their war-torn nation.
The ministers, from both Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats, made an exception to the current deportation ban, thus allowing dangerous criminals to be returned to Syria, which has been battered by nearly nine years of civil war.
At the same time, the ministers from Germany’s 16 states called for the deportation ban for Syrians to be extended for a further six months.
Merkel’s government has been under pressure to toughen up the rules for refugees living in Germany following the backlash towards her 2015 decision to head off the threat of a refugee crisis in Europe by allowing about 890,000 newcomers to enter the country.
Thursday’s move by the state interior ministers follows a series of high-profile crimes committed by refugees living in the country, resulting in a push by the country’s conservatives to deport criminals to Syria as well as Afghanistan.
However, the ministers were also aware of the practical difficulties in implementing the easing the deportation ban.
“There are no contact persons for us in Syria at the moment, that’s the difficulty,” said Hans-Joachim Grote, interior minister in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The ministers are expected to formalize the decision on Friday, which should apply for one year - unless there is in the meantime a new assessment of the situation in Syria.
However, the German Foreign Ministry has concluded that there is currently no region in Syria’s civil war zone where refugees can be returned without risk.
