But, he added, “it is clear that once the civil war ended, the time for return has come and the grounds for protection cease to apply.” He declined to provide specific numbers.
Approximately 1.23 million people of Syrian origin were registered in Germany at the end of 2024. Of those, 246,320 had acquired German citizenship, leaving close to a million Syrian nationals in Germany at risk of being affected by the proposed large-scale return policy.
‘Indignity and anger’
While the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic regime in late 2024 sparked jubilation among large segments of the Syrian diaspora across Europe, many remained cautious about the prospect of returning home.
In the first 10 months of 2025 just 6,502 Syrian nationals voluntarily left Germany, according to figures published by Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“The majority want to wait and see how the situation develops — both with the regime and the transitional government — before taking the decision to return,” said Antonios Hazim, who has been in Germany since 2016 and volunteers with a Syrian community organization.
“The continued sense of insecurity and recurring violence in different regions has somewhat dampened expectations,” added Hazim, aged 31, who is currently finishing his master’s degree at the Technical University in Berlin.
Hazim said he wouldn’t return to Syria as long as an Islamist regime is in charge, and expressed concern about the broader political climate in Germany and the rising support for anti-immigrant policies.
“Above all, I feel a sense of indignity and, at times, anger at what the chancellor appears to be proposing. Much of it strikes me as symbolic politics,” he said. “But there is also a great deal of uncertainty about what the next two or three years will bring.”