In the early hours of December 17, 2025, Ali Mohammad (name changed) is still lying in bed when, at around 5 a.m., police suddenly knock on the door of his apartment in Gelsenkirchen and inform him that he will be deported to Syria. The man takes the news calmly, without any sign of agitation. His suitcase is already within reach, and may have been there for quite some time. “The person concerned accepted the measure and remained calm throughout. As he did not resist, he was given the opportunity to pack a suitcase. He was then taken into police custody,” states the deportation order available to our editorial team.

The country is currently debating the return of Syrians to their home country. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz put a figure into the political spotlight at a press conference that has since sparked debate: “80 percent” of Syrian refugees are expected to return to Syria. It remains unclear who produced this figure or where it came from. But Merz’s message is clear: Syrians should return. Within the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, there is even talk of a “deportation offensive.”

This “offensive” is getting off to a slow start. So far, only a handful of offenders have reportedly been deported to Syria. It began with Ali Mohammad.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the 36-year-old Syrian was deported on Monday, December 23, 2025, making him the first Syrian to be deported from Germany since the outbreak of the civil war. The Gelsenkirchen district court justified the deportation by stating that the Syrian had not left voluntarily after losing his protection status: “There are no indications from the person’s behavior that suggest an imminent voluntary departure, so the stay must be terminated by force.” On December 11, 2025, an order was therefore issued for his provisional arrest and appearance before the court.

22,000 Syrians have voluntarily left Germany

Mohammad rejects this account. In a phone conversation with our editorial team, he said that he had not been aware that he was expected to leave voluntarily. “If I had known, I would have done so immediately.” He explained that, especially after the fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024, he had tried to submit an application for voluntary departure, but without success.

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Calmly, Mohammad says goodbye to friends who are visiting him in his apartment that evening and follows the officers. The Syrian had fled to Germany in September 2015—like hundreds of thousands of others—because of the civil war. By the end of 2024, approximately 713,000 people seeking protection from Syria were registered in Germany.

In 2025, many Syrians continued to apply for protection in Germany. From January to September, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) recorded around 19,200 initial asylum applications from Syrian citizens. According to the Federal Statistical Office, however, about 22,000 Syrians left Germany voluntarily during this period.

Deportation to Syria: Crimes lead to loss of protection status

Many Syrians receive subsidiary protection status when their asylum applications are approved. This is granted if a person faces a serious threat from indiscriminate violence in a civil war. This status guarantees residence rights, access to the labor market, and social benefits, but it is only temporary.

Ali Mohammad held this subsidiary protection status, which was extended several times. He later lived in his own apartment in Gelsenkirchen. From June 2021 onward, the Syrian repeatedly came into conflict with the law. Among other things, he was convicted of driving without a license. “I immediately paid the fine of 650 euros,” he said.

In 2022, he received a two-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery, bodily harm, and attempted extortion. According to his brother, he had helped his cousin recover money from a Moroccan trader in North Rhine-Westphalia. The two allegedly drove to the trader and threatened him. To secure the money, they then took his mobile phone. According to the brother, Mohammad had only wanted to help but had chosen “the wrong approach.” The court saw it differently and convicted Ali.

It is planned that returns to Syria will now take place regularly. Initially, offenders will be deported.

Spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of the Interior

Syrian’s residence status is not extended

In July 2023, the BAMF initiated proceedings to revoke his protection status. As a result, the Gelsenkirchen immigration office did not extend his residence permit in February 2024. The reason: “Between February 23, 2023, and July 15, 2023, the person concerned had absconded,” according to the local court.

Mohammad disputes this and claims he was at home during that period. Due to the court ruling, he had also been required to continue his community service and had not even left North Rhine-Westphalia. He therefore finds the decision incomprehensible. His statements cannot be verified. As a result, Mohammad was granted a tolerated stay (“Duldung”), also known as a suspension of deportation. At the time, Syria was still under the Assad regime, and the country was in the chaos of civil war.

Deportation to Syria: Man questioned and released in Damascus

The dictatorship ended unexpectedly in the final days of 2024. This opened the door for German authorities to carry out deportations to Syria—at least for certain individuals, for now. A year later, after his provisional arrest in December 2025, Mohammad was taken to a detention facility in Büren, where he had to appear in court once again. During the proceedings, he repeatedly said the same sentence: “I just want to return to Syria.” His brother confirms: “For a year now, I’ve noticed that he wants to go back to Syria.” According to the local court, during a hearing in December 2025, the person concerned “did not present anything” that would have prevented the deportation.

On December 23, Ali Mohammad was ultimately deported. The operation was organized by the Federal Ministry of the Interior after the necessary substitute travel documents had been obtained. The deportation flight went from Frankfurt via Istanbul to Damascus. Authorities covered the cost of the tickets. Mohammad was accompanied by four federal police officers. According to his own account, upon arrival in Damascus he was handed over to Syrian security forces by German authorities. They briefly detained him and then released him. “It is planned that returns to Syria will now take place regularly. Offenders will be deported first,” the Interior Ministry said in response to an inquiry.

Ali plans to build a life in Syria

On January 7, the Federal Ministry of the Interior deported another Syrian offender to his home country. The 32-year-old had repeatedly come into conflict with the law and, in 2020, had been sentenced to several years in prison for drug offenses and bodily harm. However, deportations to Syria remain controversial, particularly due to the volatile security situation on the ground.

The country, affected by civil war, continues to be shaken by conflicts between the army of the new transitional government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa and various groups of Druze, Alawites, and Kurds. In addition, former generals from the Assad regime are apparently trying to regain influence and power. The Left Party in the Bundestag therefore accuses the federal government of avoiding a rational debate on migration. Instead, “one deportation debate follows another,” criticizes Clara Bünger, the party’s spokesperson on refugee policy.

Nevertheless, the CSU in the Bundestag announced that it intends to quickly return most Syrian refugees to their homeland. In a position paper for the CSU parliamentary group’s retreat at the monastery of Seeon in Upper Bavaria, it stated that for most Syrians with temporary residence permits, the reason for protection no longer applies after the end of the civil war. And: “For those who do not leave voluntarily, returns must be initiated as quickly as possible.”

Mohammad does not plan to return to Germany but instead wants to build a new life in his home country together with his family. He currently lives with his parents in southern Damascus and told our editorial team that, after ten years in Germany, he feels significantly better mentally and psychologically. “Because you simply live in your homeland and with your family,” he said.

This article was originally written and published on the 2nd of April in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.