December 23, 2025, 1:38 p.mDecember 23, 2025, 1:38 p.m
For the first time since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Germany has deported a convicted criminal to Syria. The German Interior Ministry said he was handed over to the authorities in the Syrian capital Damascus this morning.
It was the second deportation of an Afghan criminal.Image: keystone
The man served a prison sentence in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia for particularly serious robbery, bodily harm and extortion. The “Bild” newspaper previously reported.
In the morning, a criminal had already been deported from Germany to Afghanistan. According to the ministry, it was the second deportation of an Afghan criminal within a week.
Deportations also to Syria in the coalition agreement
Germany’s Christian Democratic Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said: “Deportations to Syria and Afghanistan must be possible. Our society has a legitimate interest in criminals leaving our country. We stand for control, consistency and a clear edge.”
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.Image: keystone
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU and CSU) and the Social Democratic SPD, which have been in government together since May, agreed in a coalition agreement on deportation to Syria. It says: “We will deport people to Afghanistan and Syria – starting with criminals and those who are dangerous.”
According to information, the Afghan criminal had been in prison in Bavaria for, among other things, intentional bodily harm.
Talks with Syrian government and Afghan representatives
It was said that the German Interior Ministry had held talks with both the Syrian government and representatives of those responsible in Afghanistan in recent months. There are now agreements that deportations of criminals and dangerous people could take place regularly in the future.
Merz recently made it clear that he wanted to personally lobby Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to quickly resume deportations to Syria. «The civil war in Syria is over. There are now no longer any reasons for asylum in Germany, and that’s why we can start with returns,” said the CDU leader at the beginning of November.
In Syria, the long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by the Islamist militia HTS, led by al-Sharaa, just over a year ago. He was appointed interim president and has since been steering the country towards opening and rapprochement with the West. (sda/dpa)
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