Another week, another spat within the German establishment about migration.
The coalition already proved it cannot be trusted to get a grip on the border by rowing about Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s mild “cityscape” crime comments. But as if to persuade those who are (somehow) not yet convinced about the government’s uselessness, Merz’s party colleague and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said over the weekend that he does not expect many Syrian refugees in Germany to return to their homeland soon.
Wadephul came to this view following his first visit to Syria, which he described as being in such a state of “destruction” that “it is almost impossible for people to live a dignified life here.”
Sven Schulze, who is head of the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD recently crossed the 40% mark in a regional poll for the first time, toldBild “I can’t understand the foreign minister’s statements,” adding:
The reason for the flight of hundreds of thousands of Syrians was the now-ended civil war. Therefore, a strategy for the rapid return of these people must now be developed in a very targeted manner.
Günter Krings, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, also said destruction is not an argument against “voluntary or compulsory return[s] … Because who is supposed to rebuild a destroyed country if not its own citizens?”
Outside the coalition, politicians who are more serious about border control expressed dismay at the government’s ineptitude.
AfD federal parliament member Tobias Teich stressed that the fact “Syria still shows traces of the war is no reason for asylum in Germany.”
Syria can use every helping hand to clear away the rubble and rebuild the country. Wadephul sabotages this process with his statement and harms Syria.
Political consultant Sebastian Fischer-Jung added that while “Chancellor Merz promised comprehensive deportations, his foreign minister and party colleague Wadephul is doing exactly the opposite.”
So what now? When will law and order be applied in the federal German cityscape?
Voters appear increasingly to believe that this will only take place when there is a serious change in government.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
