German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Monday that Syrian refugees must be in employment if they are to remain in the country.
“We can make good use of those who work here,” Habeck said on the Deutschlandfunk public radio station. “Those who are not working here will – if the country is safe – be able or even forced to return to safety.”
Germany has seen a heated debate over the status of Syrian residents since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime last month.
The latest comments from Habeck – the Greens’ candidate for chancellor in February’s election – echo those of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who on Sunday said: “Those who are well integrated, employed, have learned German and found a new home here should be allowed to stay in Germany.”
About 975,000 Syrians currently live in Germany, according to figures from Faeser’s ministry. Most arrived after 2015 due to the Syrian civil war.
More than 300,000 of them have subsidiary protection status, having been granted leave to remain in the country not due to individual persecution but because of the civil war in their homeland.
German immigration authorities recently decided to temporarily stop making decisions on asylum claims for people from Syria due to the dynamic developments in the country.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union has taken a stricter stance on Syrian refugees, with lawmaker Thorsten Frei arguing that those who remain in Germany must earn enough to feed their families and pay for their pensions after retirement.
