Interior Minister Dobrindt wants to revoke the protection status of Syrian refugees en masse. Anyone who wants to avoid violent deportation will receive a bonus of 1,000 euros for “voluntary departure” to the war-torn country. The German state wants to sort out refugees: into profitable and annoying refugees. – A comment from Oliver Lindgren.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU)wantsthat the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) will revoke the protection status of people who have fled Syria this fall - en masse. Alexander Throm (domestic policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group) told the Editorial Network Germany (RND) in advance: “The revocation check should begin with young men traveling alone who receive social assistance, who therefore do not work and are on the state’s pocket.”

But he goes further and fantasizes about a “better program for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees.” According to him, this should "increase the incentive to leave voluntarily. Because every voluntary departure is cheaper than forced deportation." At the same time, of course, you don't want to accidentally lose important specialist staff. That's why Throm protects himself: "People such as doctors or nurses who work have the opportunity to change into a work residence permit."

It is clear and clear: the federal government simply sorts refugees according to their usefulness to capital. This became particularly clear in the context of the deportations to Syria at the end of March,at the meetingby Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the Syrian ruler al-Sharaa. At that time, the two spoke of Syrian people as “assets” (human) capital. They discussed which of the two countries could currently better exploit the labor of Syrian people.

Merz and al-Sharaa are making Syrians a bargaining chip in Germany

“Because every voluntary departure is cheaper than forced deportation”

And every voluntary departure is currently worth 1,000 euros to the federal government. This is how high the premium is if you, as an adult refugee, “voluntarily” decide to leave Germany again. The other option looks something like this: At the beginning of Augustfor exampleA couple from the state of Hesse was deported to Türkiye - without their three children.

“Deportation at any price”: Parents without children deported to Turkey

This ever-growing front against refugees is also reflected in the numbers. On oneInquiryThe federal government replied to the Left Party that out of a total of 8,320 reviews in the first half of this year, 23.2 percent ended with the revocation or withdrawal of protection status. According to such a review, this was around 3.7 percent in 2025 and 3.1 percent in 2024. According to the federal government, there was a rejection rate of 68.6 percent for new applications from Syria in the first half of 2026.

Syria is not safe – and yet it is becoming a “deportation utopia”

These new plans from the federal government are even more concrete when it comes to the circumstances in Syria. The federal government has long been claiming that Syria has been what they call a “safe country of origin” since the fall of al-Assad. The Cologne journalist Eva Michelmannreportedafter their return from torture with beatings and electricity - not as an isolated case, but as a common practice in Syrian detention facilities. Sheappealedin a video statement: “Please do not believe that the HTS regime in Syria is in any way democratic.”

First parliamentary session in Syria since Assad's fall - the situation in the country remains dangerous

Minorities continue to be persecuted and hunted: Kurds, Druze, Christians and Alawites – to name just a few. According to unofficial figures, only 10 of the 210 seats in parliament went to these ethnic minorities. Apart from that, only regional committees were convened to carry out the election anyway. These consisted of 6,000 to 7,000 electors who were approved in advance. Everything to send the impression of a free and democratic country by Western standards to the outside world.

For the German state, Syria is currently a kind of “deportation utopia”. It seems as if the authorities themselves don't really know whether the country is safe or not: SowarnsThe Foreign Office, for example, is still planning on traveling to Syria and the security situation remains tense. But apparently not tense enough to provide people with the necessary protection that would continue to be needed.

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