Syrian refugees living in Germany should have the right to visit their homeland before deciding whether to return, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday.
Speaking at a reception for the Green parliamentary group in the northern German city of Hamburg, Baerbock said that Syrians should be allowed to see for themselves whether it is possible for them to return to their home country permanently.
Germany has seen a heated debate over the status of Syrian residents since the fall of the regime of long-time Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December.
Baerbock said she hoped that “even in an election year we will find the opportunity to be very pragmatic” and grant an exceptional permission to travel to Syrians “who would like it now.”
“If the aim is to rebuild Syria, then of course we have to see what the situation is like there,” she said, adding that no one knows what Syria’s future will look like.
Baerbock was referring to refugees with subsidiary protection status, who were granted leave to remain in Germany not due to individual persecution but because of the civil war in their homeland.
According to asylum law, if people travel to their countries of origin, it is legally assumed that the conditions for protection no longer apply and they may lose this status.
The only exceptions to this are if the trip is considered “morally imperative,” for example when attending the funeral of a relative.
Baerbock visited the Syrian capital Damascus last week together with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on behalf of the European Union.
They met Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who heads the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which led the surprise rebel offensive that resulted in the overthrow of Assad.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks at the New Year’s reception of the Hamburg Greens in the town hall. Axel Heimken/dpa
