German foreign minister Baerbock under attack: won’t expel Syrian and Afghan criminals

The Federal Foreign Minister, Green Annalena Baerbock, is facing accusations and pressure for her lax refugee policy in Germany.
Her coalition partner, the FDP, has asked her to pave the way for more expulsions. In other words: even to countries that the federal Foreign Ministry has not yet classified as safe. Even among the Greens, many are not satisfied with her minister’s path. And then there is the visa issue.

These are not relaxing days for Annalena Baerbock. While the Chancellor is on vacation and enjoying the sunshine, Green Policy faces many accusations. More and more details are coming to light about the visa affair, in which Federal Foreign Minister officers  are involved in granting VISAs to enter Germany and the EU on the basis of false documents, including those submitted by Pakistani intelligence agents. 

In addition to this issue, the Federal Foreign Ministry is also dealing with a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court in Münster on the question of whether migrants who have committed criminal offenses can be deported to Afghanistan and Syria.

The judges ruled that in Syria there is no “serious general danger to the life and safety of the civilian population due to the civil war.” Consequence: a Syrian criminal living in Germany can be deported to his home country. According to an investigation, authorities now wish to reexamine the reasons behind the decision, but in the interim, the news is creating a rift with allies and the public, who are becoming more and more concerned about the violent crimes that Afghans and Syrians are committing.

Whether it is the Greens or the FDP, many want to see the implementation of what Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised: Following the deadly knife attack in Mannheim, in which police officer Rouven Laur died, he announced that he would again allow the deportation of serious criminals and terrorists to Afghanistan and Syria.

“Mrs. Baerbock and the Greens must not stand in the way of the deportation offensive announced by the Federal Chancellor,” FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai told the German News Agency. She added, “Deportations to Syria and Afghanistan are absolutely necessary, especially when it comes to Islamic ‘threateners.’ These repatriations would serve to make Germany safer and ease the social systems.” Therefore, he had no sympathy for the Foreign Minister’s “blocking behavior.” Repatriations to these countries are also possible through neighboring countries. Anything else would make the population shake their heads and benefit the populists.

Leading Green politicians also support the call to deport criminals to Afghanistan and Syria. They made this clear back in June: “Anyone who seeks protection in Germany and then commits serious crimes or crimes of extremism is no longer welcome here and must leave our country,” said, for example, Hamburg’s second mayor, Katharina Fegebank. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck expressed similar sentiments, supporting calls for expulsions to crisis regions such as Syria and Afghanistan.

Baerbock, on the other hand, is currently fighting on all fronts. He continues to downplay the visa affair. Everything was in order. She warns of empty promises when it comes to deportations of criminals to Syria or Afghanistan, which are now being demanded. “I think, especially in such uncertain times, it’s not a contribution to security if you promise things and then the next day you don’t really know how to deliver them,” he said at an event.

As for Syria, the German Foreign Ministry still classifies it as an unsafe country, despite what the court ruled in open contrast. What’s more, Germany has not deported anyone to Syria in over twelve years. The last deportations to Afghanistan took place before the Taliban took power in 2021. The German government has no diplomatic relations with either the Islamists in Kabul or the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. However, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, it is conducting confidential negotiations with third countries through which deportations could be arranged.

Last year, a total of 16,430 people were deported from Germany. In the first quarter of 2024, there were 4791 deportations, primarily to Georgia, Turkey, North Macedonia, and Albania. There are too few compared to the crimes.