ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he has invited Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Berlin to discuss the matter of deporting Syrian citizens with criminal records.
"We will, of course, continue to deport criminals to Syria. That is the plan," Merz said on Monday, adding they "will now implement this in a very concrete manner."
The chancellor said Berlin also seeks to help stabilize Syria and that he intends to discuss this subject with the Syrian president.
A decade ago, former conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted a historic open-doors policy, welcoming over one million migrants to the western European country, many of them Syrians who fled the country's civil war.
"I will say it again: the civil war in Syria is over," the German chancellor told reporters. "There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany."
Under the leadership of Merz, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) has implemented a tougher line on border security and migration.
Germany is ramping up deportations, with hundreds of individuals being returned at its borders, sparking criticism from opposition parties over human rights concerns.
Germany is a popular destination for tens of thousands of Syrians who attempt to reach Europe each year, often through smuggling routes.
More than 4,400 Syrians living in Germany have expressed willingness to return to their country since the beginning of this year, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees told Rudaw in late September.
An estimated 972,000 to 975,000 Syrians were living in Germany at the end of 2023, according to the German government figures.