Within hours of the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, some German politicians began suggesting that it was time for the millions of Syrians who had found refuge in Germany (some since 2015) to consider returning home, Reuters writes, quoted by BTA.
However, many of these Syrians have already built a life in Germany and have no intention of leaving the country. Employers, unions and business associations have stressed how much these people are needed amid a severe labor shortage in Europe's largest economy.
"Telling people who have jobs that they have to go back to Syria is completely incomprehensible to me," said Ulrich Temps, managing director of a paint and varnish company. "We have taken on the task of training these people and making them skilled workers," Temps said of the 12 Syrians who work as part of his 530-strong team.
Among them is Mohamed Redatotonji, who arrived in Germany in November 2015 as a refugee from his native Syria. He now lives in the northern German city of Hanover with his wife, who arrived under the family reunification program, and their three children.
"I am integrated here in Germany and have completed my studies. I see my future here," he says.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to welcome 1.5 million refugees, mostly from Syria, into the country immediately became a source of controversy in Germany, and many see it as the reason for the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
Since then, the country has also taken in more than 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine, with an expected 1.5 million in 2024. its economy to contract for the second year in a row, performing worst among the G7 countries.
Migration is now the second most pressing issue ahead of snap elections in February next year, after economic growth.
In an effort to reduce the appeal of the far right, some German politicians have even proposed paying for Syrians to fly home. Meanwhile, asylum applications from Syrians have been suspended.
Conservative Friedrich Merz, a frontrunner to become chancellor, said the fall of Assad could be an opportunity to bring Syrians back, but added that it was too early to make any decisions.
While some 500,000 people, including mothers with children, are still unemployed, Syrians have helped ease the strain on the German labor market, where industry groups say half of companies are struggling to find the workers they need.
Around 43,000 Syrians work in the industrial sector, which (until the recent slowdown) was a key driver of growth. Among them is Salah Sadek, who works for parts supplier "Continental". His wife did her PhD in Germany, and their children would have to change the language and education system if they returned to Syria.
Sadek does not rule out returning to his hometown of Damascus at some point, but he says it will take at least five years to gain more clarity about the situation in Syria.
Data from the Institute for Employment Research shows that the longer someone has lived in Germany, the more likely they are to have a job. For people who have been in the country for more than six years, the employment rate is over 60 percent. These people are also less likely to leave, and the role they play in the local economy and community is more visible.
"Companies, health clinics and care centers rely on Syrian employees," says Susie Möbeck, integration commissioner in the northeastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Around 10,000 Syrians work in German hospitals, making them the largest group of foreign doctors in Germany, according to the Syrian Society of Doctors and Pharmacists in Germany.
"If a large number of them leave the country, care provision will not collapse, but there will be noticeable gaps," says Gerald Gass, chairman of the Federation of German Hospitals (DKG).
In a group for Syrian doctors in Germany on the social network "Facebook" on the day Assad fell, 74 percent of 1,200 people said they were considering a permanent return. Three days later, 65 percent of 1,159 people said their return depended on conditions in the country.