BERLIN: It took only a few hours after the fall of Bashar Assad for some German politicians to begin suggesting it was time for Germany’s million Syrians – many of them refugees from the 2015 war – to consider returning home.
But many of those same Syrians have built lives in Germany and have no intention of returning. Employers, trade unions and business associations are now speaking up to stress how much they are needed in a German economy facing deep labor shortages.
“Telling people who are employed that they should go back to Syria is absolutely incomprehensible to me,” said Ulrich Temps, managing director of a painting and varnishing company.
“We have taken on the task of training and turning them into skilled workers,” Temps told Reuters of the 12 Syrians he has hired within his nationwide workforce of 530.
One of those is Mohammed Redatotonji, who came to Germany in November of 2015 as a Syrian refugee. He now lives in the northern city of Hanover with his wife, who joined him later via a family reunification program, and their three children.
“I am integrated here in Germany and I have completed my training here,” said Redatotonji, who was just out of high school when he left Syria. “I see my future here.”
Former chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome over one million asylum seekers predominantly from Syria was immediately controversial in Germany and has been blamed by some for contributing to the rise of the far-right AfD party.
Since then, Germany has also accepted more than 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine, while its economy is expected to contract in 2024 for the second consecutive year, being the worst performer among G7 countries.
Migration now ranks as Germans’ second most pressing concern ahead of federal elections in February 2025, behind the economy.
With an eye to stunting the appeal of the far-right, some mainstream German politicians have even proposed paying for Syrians’ flights back home. In the meantime, asylum applications from Syrians are on hold.
Germany’s likely next chancellor, conservative Friedrich Merz, has said the fall of Assad could be an opportunity for Syrians to return, but it is too early to make any decision.
While around 500,000 remain unemployed — among them mothers with children — Syrians have helped ease labor pressures which, according to the DIHK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have left half of companies struggling to fill vacancies.
Around 43,000 Syrians are employed in a manufacturing sector which, until a recent slowdown, was long a key driver of growth. One is Salah Sadek, a firmware developer at automotive and industrial supplier Continental.
Sadek, whose wife did a doctorate in Germany, said his children would have to switch language and education system if they returned.
He did not rule out ever returning to his home city Damascus but added: “We need five years at least to wait to get more clarity on the situation in Syria.”
Data from the Institute for Employment Research think tank shows that the longer someone has been in Germany, the more likely they are to have a job, with an employment rate of over 60 percent for those present for over six years.
They are also less likely to want to leave, and the role they play in the local economy and community is more visible.
“We must not gamble away these integration successes,” said Susi Moebbeck, integration commissioner in the northeastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. “Businesses, clinics, and care facilities depend on Syrian workers.”
Around 10,000 Syrians work in German hospitals, making them the largest group of foreign doctors in Germany, according to Syrian Society for Doctors and Pharmacists in Germany.
“If large numbers were to leave the country, care provision would not collapse, but there would be noticeable gaps,” said Gerald Gass, chairman of German Hospital Federation (DKG).
On a Facebook group for Syrian doctors in Germany, a snap poll on the day of Assad’s fall showed 74 percent of 1,200 respondents said they were considering a permanent return. A poll three days later showed 65 percent of 1,159 said a return would depend on conditions in the country.
When Sandy Issa, a 36-year-old gynaecologist at a Berlin clinic, heard of Assad’s fall, she wished she could celebrate in Homs, her home city.
“We want to be in our country, but thinking about permanently returning... I believe is too early,” she said.
Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave
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Their labor in demand, Germany’s Syrians are in no rush to leave
- Former chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome over one million asylum seekers predominantly from Syria was immediately controversial
- Migration now ranks as Germans’ second most pressing concern ahead of federal elections in February 2025, behind the economy
Proposals on immigration enforcement flood into state legislatures, heightened by Minnesota action
- Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: As Democrats across the country propose state law changes to restrict federal immigration officers after the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis, Tennessee Republicans introduced a package of bills Thursday backed by the White House that would enlist the full force of the state to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Momentum in Democratic-led states for the measures, some of them proposed for years, is growing as legislatures return to work following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. But Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding the enforcement of immigration laws.
Democratic bills seek to limit ICE
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wants New York to allow people to sue federal officers alleging violations of their constitutional rights. Another measure aims to keep immigration officers lacking judicial warrants out of schools, hospitals and houses of worship.
Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.
New Jersey’s Democrat-led Legislature passed three bills Monday that immigrant rights groups have long pushed for, including a measure prohibiting state law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has until his last day in office Tuesday to sign or veto them.
California lawmakers are proposing to ban local and state law enforcement from taking second jobs with the Department of Homeland Security and make it a violation of state law when ICE officers make “indiscriminate” arrests around court appearances. Other measures are pending.
“Where you have government actions with no accountability, that is not true democracy,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco said at a news conference.
Democrats also push bills in red states
Democrats in Georgia introduced four Senate bills designed to limit immigration enforcement — a package unlikely to become law because Georgia’s conservative upper chamber is led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a close Trump ally. Democrats said it is still important to take a stand.
“Donald Trump has unleashed brutal aggression on our families and our communities across our country,” said state Sen. Sheikh Rahman, an immigrant from Bangladesh whose district in suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County is home to many immigrants.
Democrats in New Hampshire have proposed numerous measures seeking to limit federal immigration enforcement, but the state’s Republican majorities passed a new law taking effect this month that bans “sanctuary cities.”
Tennessee GOP works with White House on a response
The bills Tennessee Republicans are introducing appear to require government agencies to check the legal status of all residents before they can obtain public benefits; secure licenses for teaching, nursing and other professions; and get driver’s licenses or register their cars.
They also would include verifying K-12 students’ legal status, which appears to conflict with a US Supreme Court precedent. And they propose criminalizing illegal entry as a misdemeanor, a measure similar to several other states’ requirements, some of which are blocked in court.
“We’re going to do what we can to make sure that if you’re here illegally, we will have the data, we’ll have the transparency, and we’re not spending taxpayer dollars on you unless you’re in jail,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said at a news conference Thursday.
Trump administration sues to stop laws
The Trump administration has opposed any effort to blunt ICE, including suing local governments whose “sanctuary” policies limit police interactions with federal officers.
States have broad power to regulate within their borders unless the US Constitution bars it, but many of these laws raise novel issues that courts will have to sort out, said Harrison Stark, senior counsel with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“There’s not a super clear, concrete legal answer to a lot of these questions,” he said. “It’s almost guaranteed there will be federal litigation over a lot of these policies.”
That is already happening.
California in September was the first to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration officers, from covering their faces on duty. The Justice Department said its officers won’t comply and sued California, arguing that the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing and violence.
The Justice Department also sued Illinois last month, challenging a law that bars federal civil arrests near courthouses, protects medical records and regulates how universities and day care centers manage information about immigration status. The Justice Department claims the law is unconstitutional and threatens federal officers’ safety.
Targeted states push back
Minnesota and Illinois, joined by their largest cities, sued the Trump administration this week. Minneapolis and Minnesota accuse the Republican administration of violating free speech rights by punishing a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants. Illinois and Chicago claim “Operation Midway Blitz” made residents afraid to leave their homes.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety and called the Illinois lawsuit “baseless.”
