Germany deports a Syrian refugee to Damascus for 1st time

The German Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on Tuesday that it had carried out the first deportation of a Syrian national to his home country since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011, as part of its policy regarding asylum seekers with criminal records.

The ministry explained that the deported individual had been convicted of committing crimes inside Germany. He was transferred on a civilian flight accompanied by officers of the German Federal Police and was handed over to Syrian authorities in the capital, Damascus, earlier today.

According to the German newspaper Bild, the deportee was born in 1988 and had been residing in Germany for several years. He had been sentenced to prison in the state of North Rhine–Westphalia after being convicted on robbery charges.

In July, the German Ministry of the Interior announced its intention to begin deporting Syrian nationals with criminal records, following Austria, which became the first European Union country in recent years to take a similar step.

In this context, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had been tasked with taking measures against individuals whom authorities describe as “dangerous persons and repeat offenders.” The spokesperson stressed that committing serious crimes leads to the loss of the protection granted by asylum and may result in the revocation of legal status, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

ANHA