Damascus, Syria — October 30, 2025
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will make his first visit to Syria on Thursday, meeting representatives of the new Syrian government. Germany, which hosts a large Syrian diaspora after the country’s civil war, sees it as “in the understandable interest of the Syrian government to create the conditions for as many Syrians as possible to return,” Wadephul said.
Germany’s own policy, focused on reducing migration and responding to domestic political pressures, seeks to resume limited deportations to Syria — though only in “truly serious criminal” cases, the minister emphasised.
Wadephul noted that much of Syria’s infrastructure remains destroyed, making large-scale returns “only possible to a very limited extent.” He vowed Berlin would work “in a very practical manner to ensure that German companies can operate here.