Europe’s Syrians shaken by debate over repatriation to their war-ravaged homeland – POLITICO

Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, a member of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), also warned that an exodus of Syrians would have considerable consequences for Germany’s labor market, particularly its healthcare sector, which has come to rely on Syrian nurses and doctors.

“Entire areas of the healthcare sector would disappear if all Syrians working here were to leave our country now,” the SPD politician said. “For us, it is important that we offer Syrians who are here, who have a job, who have integrated, who are free of criminal offenses, whose children go to school, the opportunity to stay here and be there for our economy.”

Around 6,000 Syrian doctors work in Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote on X. An election debate about their future in Germany would “deeply disappoint and unsettle” them, he added.

Insensitive and unnecessary

Across Europe, Syrians expressed similar feelings — a mixture of joy over Assad’s fall, worries about the future of the country, and disappointment with much of the European political discourse on refugees.  

“Although we have seen the celebrations all over the world [of] the end of the Assad dictatorship, the situation in Syria remains deeply unstable, and for many, returning home now feels both unsafe and unwise,” said Ayman Alhussein, a Syrian filmmaker and refugee living in London.

“It’s hard to justify how swiftly Europe and the U.K. moved to suspend asylum decisions,” he continued. “I was hoping that countries would rush to send aid and provide guidance on how it can be built again, and sanctions on Syria haven’t even been lifted yet. But unfortunately, refugees have long been treated as political cards, and this feels like yet another example of that. The decision is not only insensitive but also entirely unnecessary.”