Germany's Merz calls for repatriation of Syrians as far-right surges

By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) -Syrians no longer have grounds for asylum in Germany now the civil war in their country is over, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, as his conservatives seek to fend off a surging far-right ahead of a slew of state elections next year.

Germany was the EU country that took in the largest number of refugees from the 14-year-long Syrian civil war due to former Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy, with around one million Syrians living in the country today.

But Merz and several fellow conservatives in his coalition cabinet say the situation has changed following the fall last December of Bashar al-Assad's government and end of the war - despite the fact Syria remains in a deep humanitarian crisis and forcible returns would face steep legal challenges.

COUNTERING THE AfD

"There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, and therefore we can also begin with repatriations," Merz said late on Monday, adding that he expected many Syrians to return of their own accord to rebuild the country.

"Without these people, rebuilding will not be possible. Those in Germany who then refuse to return to the country can, of course, also be deported in the near future."

The far-right Alternative for Germany has surged ahead of Merz's conservatives in opinion polls ahead of five state elections next year that could give the AfD its first state premier.

The party has campaigned on an anti-migrant platform and argues that Islam is incompatible with German society.

Migration has consistently topped polls about Germans' top concerns in recent years, and some mainstream conservative strategists believe only a hardline asylum policy can counter the AfD. Others advocate challenging the AfD more robustly.

The United Nations has warned that conditions in Syria currently do not allow for large-scale repatriations, with some 70% of the population still relying on humanitarian aid - a sentiment echoed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul during his trip to the country last week.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called that "a slap in the face to the victims of Islamist violence", referring to the arrest of a 22-year-old Syrian in Berlin on Sunday accused of preparing a "jihadi" attack in the latest of a series of high-profile incidents that have fuelled public concerns over security and migration.

VOLUNTARY RETURNS

Germany has been examining the possibility of deporting Syrians with criminal records for several months, and Merz said on Monday he had invited Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Germany to discuss the issue.

Now a policy of broader repatriations - preferably voluntary - is being discussed.

Chancellery chief Thorsten Frei said on Monday that young Sunni Muslim men were "certainly not subject to any danger or risk of destitution in Syria" anymore.

"Germany will only be able to help people in such situations on a lasting basis if, once the country has been pacified, a large proportion of these people then return to their homeland," said Frei.

Hundreds of thousands of Bosnians were repatriated from Germany in the late 1990s after the end of the war there, largely via voluntary returns in part prompted by the knowledge their residence permits would not be extended.

Bosnia had a clearer peace architecture, with international monitoring, than Syria has today - and Germany would likely face legal challenges if it sought to forcibly return Syrians.

Only around 1,000 Syrians returned to Syria with German federal assistance in the first half of this year. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians in Germany still hold only temporary residence permits.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke; Additional Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Alex Richardson)