Faeser has to cut short trip to Damascus

"Due to concrete warnings from the German security authorities about a terrorist threat, Federal Interior Minister Faeser has canceled a trip to the Syrian capital Damascus planned for this morning before departure from the Jordanian capital Amman," said a spokesperson for the ministry. Faeser had made the decision together with Karner.

Threat to delegation not justifiable

"The potential threat to the delegation and the security forces deployed was not justifiable," said the spokesperson. It could not be ruled out that the German and Austrian delegations were at risk.

The trip was planned under high security precautions and had not been publicly announced. Talks were planned with two ministers of the transitional government and representatives of United Nations aid organizations.

Security situation in Syria remains fragile

The focus was to be on security issues and prospects for the return of Syrian refugees. "In particular, Germany and Austria are working intensively to ensure that serious criminals and dangerous individuals with Syrian citizenship can be returned to Syria as quickly as possible," said the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior. These issues should be discussed with the transitional government at the earliest possible stage. "However, this incident also shows that the security situation in Syria remains fragile," said the spokesperson.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) is currently not making any decisions on asylum applications from people from Syria due to the unstable situation.

Germany hopes for progress in Syria

Last week, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock opened the German embassy in Damascus, which had been closed since 2012 for security reasons. In December, Syria's long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by a rebel alliance led by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The country is now led by a transitional government headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Three weeks ago, a surprise attack by Alawite Assad supporters triggered a military operation in the coastal region in the north-west, resulting in hundreds of deaths - including many Alawite civilians.

On the other hand, there have been positive developments such as the agreement reached between the transitional government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on March 10.

Around 975,000 Syrian nationals live in Germany

According to the Central Register of Foreigners, there were around 975,000 Syrian nationals living in Germany at the beginning of the year. This included around 10,200 who were required to leave the country. Around 9,100 of them had a tolerated stay permit. Tolerated persons are people who are required to leave the country but cannot be deported for certain reasons - for example because they have no identity documents or are ill. Duldung is always limited in time.

For more than two months, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has been working on a regulation that would allow refugees from Syria to travel to their former home country for a short time without risking their protection status in Germany. The idea behind it: People should be able to find out whether the conditions for safe return are met. Some politicians from the CDU/CSU have been critical of Faeser and Baerbock's proposal.

Faeser emphasized that it was important to provide basic services such as housing, electricity, drinking water and schooling. As long as this was not provided, many refugees who actually wanted to return would hesitate.