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
Suspected Bangladeshi arrested in stabbing of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan
- Thursday’s attack on Khan, one of India’s most bankable stars, shocked the nation’s film industry and Mumbai residents
- The suspect, arrested on the outskirts of Mumbai, was using the name Vijay Das and was working with a housekeeping agency
MUMBAI: A man thought to be a citizen of Bangladesh was arrested in India’s financial capital Mumbai on Sunday and is considered the prime suspect in the stabbing of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, police said.
Thursday’s attack on Khan, one of India’s most bankable stars, shocked the nation’s film industry and Mumbai residents, with many calling for better policing and security. He was out of danger, doctors said, and has left the hospital.
“Primary evidence suggests that the accused is a Bangladeshi citizen and after entering India illegally he changed his name,” Dixit Gedam, a deputy commissioner of police, told a press conference.
The suspect, arrested on the outskirts of Mumbai, was using the name Vijay Das but is believed to be Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad and was working with a housekeeping agency after having come to the city five or six months ago, Gedam said.
The police will seek custody of the suspect for further investigation, he added.
Khan, 54, was stabbed six times by an intruder during a burglary attempt at his home. He had surgery after sustaining stab wounds to his spine, neck and hands, doctors said.
Police in Mumbai detained a first key suspect in the attack on Friday, while police in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh detained a second person on Saturday.
Afghanistan blames US invasion, sanctions for environmental damage, delayed climate action
- Afghanistan ranked 7th on global index of countries most vulnerable, least prepared to adapt to climate change
- Use of bombs and mines during wars destroyed agricultural land, left toxic footprint on environment
KABUL: The US invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent sanctions exacerbated the impacts of climate change in the country, the National Environmental Protection Agency said on Sunday, as Kabul called on the international community for support in combating the ecological crisis.
Between the 2001 US-led invasion and its chaotic withdrawal in 2021, the US military had dropped tens of thousands of bombs on Afghanistan, many of which are munitions that can leave a toxic footprint on the environment.
“The presence of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan for 20 years has had a wide-ranging impact on Afghanistan,” Dr. Zainul Abedin Abed, technical and policy deputy director-general at NEPA, told Arab News.
“Among the environmental impacts, we can mention cases such as the destruction of agricultural land … These impacts have put pressure on the Afghan environment and accelerated climate change. The US and NATO have used weapons and chemical substances, which is irreparable.”
In April 2017, the US military dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, known as “the mother of all bombs,” on Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province. It is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever used by Washington in a conflict.
“The adverse effects of the MOAB in Tora Bora district of Nangarhar province included an increase in premature births, skin diseases and neurological problems,” Abed said, adding that the bomb also destroyed homes and caused damage to the local economy.
Afghanistan has suffered through decades of war even before the US-led invasion, including a decade of Soviet invasion that also saw foreign forces deploying chemical weapons, such as napalm, to destroy crops.
The country lost around 80 percent of its forests in the conflicts, according to Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai.
“The destructive bombs that the Soviet Union used on our forests have destroyed a major part of the country’s forests. Our country faced another crisis as the US and NATO forces experimented with their weapons in Afghanistan, which couldn’t be used anywhere else, without any mercy on the people of Afghanistan,” Stanikzai said at the national climate change conference in Kabul on Wednesday.
“Now, I call on the world countries, the United Nations, the European Union, America as well as neighboring and regional countries to support Afghanistan in these difficult times. It’s their moral responsibility, especially those countries that contributed to climate change.”
Dr. Abdul Latif Nazari, Afghanistan’s deputy minister of economy, said at the conference that it was “important to lift sanctions and remove restrictions so the international organizations can work with our entities,” such as NEPA.
Afghanistan is one of the most vulnerable and least prepared countries to adapt to climate change, ranking seventh on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, despite being a country with the 11th lowest contributor per capita to global carbon emissions.
“Afghanistan’s contribution to global climate change has been inconsequential,” Kabul-based environmental expert Noorudin Jalali told Arab News.
“However, the impact of international interventions on Afghanistan has been huge. Consecutive drought, deforestation, air pollution and huge damage to the country’s ecosystem are some of the major effects that climate change has had on the country’s environment.”
The use of bombs and mines “devastated the country’s environment and agriculture” and will take years and billions of dollars to recover, he added.
Afghanistan is already suffering from the impacts of climate change. After three consecutive years of drought, Afghanistan experienced severe flooding in 2024 that killed hundreds of people, devastated vast agricultural land in its northern provinces and left millions of people without their primary source of income and food.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan has been excluded from representation under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — which leads efforts in global climate cooperation — while major sources of funding for climate adaptation have also been suspended.
“Without the support of the international community and international organizations, Afghanistan will not be able to fight the climate change challenge. The sooner this support is facilitated, the better for the country and its people,” Jalali said.
Nigeria tanker truck blast toll rises to 86: rescuers
LAGOS: The death toll from the explosion of a petrol tanker truck in Nigeria that killed people rushing to gather fuel has risen to 86, emergency services said Sunday.
"The final death toll from the tanker explosion is 86," said Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency in Niger state.
The truck carrying 60,000 litres of gasoline exploded after flipping over on a road in the centre of the country on Saturday, authorities said.
Pope Francis calls for Gaza ceasefire to be ‘immediately respected’
- Pope Francis: I also hope that humanitarian aid will even more quickly reach... the people of Gaza, who have so many urgent needs
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis called Sunday for a ceasefire in Gaza to be “immediately respected,” as he thanked mediators and urged a boost in humanitarian aid as well as the return of hostages.
“I express gratitude to all the mediators,” the Argentine pontiff said shortly after the start of a truce between Israel and Hamas began.
“Thanks to all the parties involved in this important outcome. I hope that, as agreed, it will be immediately respected by the parties and that all the hostages will finally be able to go home to hug their loved ones again,” he said.
“I pray so much for them, and their families. I also hope that humanitarian aid will even more quickly reach... the people of Gaza, who have so many urgent needs,” Francis said.
“Both Israelis and Palestinians need clear signs of hope. I hope that the political authorities of both, with the help of the international community, can reach the right two-state solution.
“May everyone say yes to dialogue, yes to reconciliation, yes to peace,” he added.
A total of 33 hostages taken by militants during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel are scheduled to be returned from Gaza during an initial 42-day truce.
Under the deal, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli jails.
The truce is intended to pave the way for an end to more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas’s attack, the deadliest in Israeli history.
It follows a deal struck by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt after months of negotiations, and takes effect on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.
Bangladesh seeks arrest of MP cricketer over bounced cheques
- Bangladesh court issues warrant for Shakib Al Hasan for bounced cheques totaling $300,000
- Hasan is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic, ousted ex-leader Sheikh Hasina
Dhaka: A Bangladeshi court issued an arrest warrant on Sunday for cricket star Shakib Al Hasan for bounced cheques totalling more than $300,000, in the latest blow for the ousted lawmaker.
“The court has previously summoned Shakib but he did not appear at the court,” said Mohammed Shahibur Rahman from the IFIC Bank, which filed the case.
“Now, the court has issued the warrant,” he said.
Shakib is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, who was overthrown by revolution and fled by helicopter to India in August 2024.
His links to Hasina made him a target of public anger and he was among dozens facing murder investigations for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.
He has not been charged over those allegations.
Shakib was playing in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada when Hasina’s government collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since.
The left-arm allrounder has played 71 Tests, 247 one-day internationals and 129 Twenty20s for Bangladesh, taking a combined 712 wickets.
However, he was left out of the 15-man squad for the one-day international tournament in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai next month.
Najmul Hossain Shanto will captain the side, with Bangladesh placed in Group A alongside India, Pakistan and New Zealand.
