German Chancellor Friedrich Merz received Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Berlin earlier this week.Image: keystone / EPA / FILIP SINGER
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa wants most of his compatriots to return from Germany. Switzerland is also planning a return program for Syrian citizens.
April 2, 2026, 8:36 p.mApril 2, 2026, 8:36 p.m
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former head of the Islamist rebel group HTS, has become socially acceptable in the West. The US removed Syria’s interim president, who overthrew long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad, from the terror list last year (Watson reported). On Monday, al-Sharaa was received in Berlin by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Numerous Syrians in exile greeted him frenetically with shouts of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). Al-Sharaa presents himself as the ruler of a new Syria, who wants to bring together the country torn apart by civil war. However, attacks on minorities repeatedly make negative headlines.
After the meeting in Berlin, one number in particular is attracting media attention: Chancellor Merz wants this in the next few years 80 percent of the approximately 900,000 Syrians in Germany are returning. Al-Sharaa also wants this, as the ARD Tagesschau reported. Above all, Merz wants to get rid of those “who abuse our hospitality”.
Almost 30,000 Syrians live in Switzerland. By far most of them fled here because of the civil war. Almost 10,000 people have been recognized as refugees since 2012, and almost 13,000 have received temporary admission. If you apply the repatriation offensive announced by Merz to Swiss conditions, Asylum Minister Beat Jans would have to announce that around 18,000 Syrians pack their bags should.
There is no lack of political demands. Shortly after Assad’s fall in December 2024, the SVP demanded that the federal government also do so enforced an involuntary return. One thing is certain: Even under the new political circumstances, only a few Syrians are returning voluntarily. Last year there were 139 people. Last year under Assad’s dictatorship there were only 15.
However, there is currently little to suggest that a large-scale deportation campaign from the Jans department will take place in the near future. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which is responsible for asylum, writes that the development of Syria remains uncertain and that a deterioration in the security situation is possible at any time. The situation regarding the rule of law, protection of minorities and peacekeeping is volatile. The SEM is not aiming for quotas like those announced by Chancellor Merz anyway. Rather, it will check the admissibility of expulsion in each individual case, says a spokesman.
No return quotas: Asylum Minister Beat Jans.Image: keystone / peter klaunzer
Nevertheless, the Federal Council has taken the first steps to promote the voluntary return of Syrians. In February he recommended one Motion to the acceptance in which Barbara Steinemann is calling for a return program. The Zurich SVP National Councilor believes: More than a year after the change of power in Damascus, the time is ripe for an effective return program. Steinemann complains that Switzerland’s return assistance is so rarely used because the social benefits and healthcare system in Switzerland are much more attractive than a one-off return assistance. She demands that the federal government should send back as many Syrians as possible.
9000 euros for a family of five
In mid-June, Switzerland joined a return program run by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). There is 615 euros per person, plus 2,000 euros in project aid for the first person and a further 1,000 euros for each additional person in a family who returns home. A family of five can travel home with a good 9,000 euros (approx. 8,400 Swiss francs) in their luggage. This may mean that it works better than with the Swiss tariffs that previously applied. Between July and December 2025, 60 Syrians accepted the new offer, mostly families. However, the SEM has not yet aggressively communicated this option to refugees. The Federal Council does not want to launch a return assistance program until next summer at the earliest.
Meanwhile, refugee aid is urging caution. She believes the conditions for a safe return are still not met. She points out that More than half of the population is dependent on humanitarian aid and conflicts between different population groups continued to cause great uncertainty.
(ch media)