On March 20, days after Friedrich Merz and interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa raised repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Basel Gawish received a letter from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The 31-year-old Syrian was told his asylum application had been rejected, he was not eligible for subsidiary protection, and he had to leave Germany within 30 days.
“I was completely shocked and devastated,” Gawish told DW. “I was kidnapped in Syria and fled through several countries. I would never have imagined that my asylum application would be rejected.” He has appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
In the two years since arriving in Germany, Gawish has learned near-perfect German. A licensed dentist, he is working in the southern town of Bühl as a trainee to an oral surgeon who hopes to hire him after the internship. He volunteers as a translator for charities including the German Red Cross and for the federal police, speaking Arabic, English and Turkish.
“This is my country. I speak the language,” he said. “I want to stay. Two years ago, Germany gave me a roof over my head and supported me. I have great respect for that and want to give something back to the country.”
A citizens’ initiative called “Grannies Against the Right” has rallied to his cause. The group launched a “Basel Must Stay!” petition that has gathered nearly 30,000 signatures; organiser Nadja Glatt said the aim is to double that number. Glatt pointed to a shortage of dental professionals in Germany and argued it makes no sense to deport someone who has done everything to integrate and contribute.
The case comes amid political pressure to encourage returns of Syrians. At a late-March press conference, Merz and al-Sharaa mentioned a target that 80% of Syrians in Germany should return over the next three years; both leaders later distanced themselves and suggested the other had raised the figure. Still, Germany’s governing coalition—CDU/CSU and SPD—has signalled it wants to see a large number of the nearly 950,000 Syrians now in Germany repatriated. In Hesse, Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) even suggested repatriation by ship.
Marie Walter-Franke of the German Council for Integration and Migration (SVR) warned that authorities may focus on deporting well-integrated people because they are easiest to locate. “Deporting people who are well-integrated and easy to track down — for example, at their workplace — isn’t necessarily what you’d want to do, but it’s the easiest to implement,” she said. “People who do everything right — who are registered, have a job and may even have children in school — naturally leave a large administrative paper trail behind them. We know where they live, where they go every day and so they’re easy to get a hold of.”
Walter-Franke, who researches naturalization and refugee integration and has interviewed Syrian refugees including arrivals after the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, said instability and lack of resources in Syria mean few want to return. Her interviews contradict claims that a majority of Syrians in Germany wish to go back.
“What bothers me is the underlying message that essentially tells all foreigners, ‘You are not welcome here,'” she said. She acknowledged progress in some migration policies—training programs and recruitment initiatives—but said Germany struggles to retain migrants long-term. “Statements that focus solely on repatriation and deportation don’t make things any better.”
Walter-Franke called for more staffing at immigration offices and courts so residence permits are processed faster and refugees can enter the workforce. She also supports allowing Syrians to visit their homeland without risking their German residency. Clear pathways should exist for businesses to train refugees and for trainees to stay employed after completing programs, she said—exactly the path Gawish is on with his prospective employer.
She stressed the demographic potential among Syrians in Germany: about one-third are minors, more than 200,000 young people who will enter the labor market in coming years. These youths speak German fluently, have grown up in Germany, and are less likely than their parents to face language or qualification recognition barriers.
The debate over deportations and repatriation targets has prompted public backlash in some quarters, and cases like Gawish’s highlight tensions between political aims and individual integration stories.
This article was translated from German.